Guns for Hands
by void-nogitsune
Summary: She was born to be a paratrooper, she could feel it in her bones. Grace Morris knew from the moment she entered the barracks that this was home, this was where she was meant to be.
1. 1: Quiet Little Voices

**A/N**: I've had this story sitting in my writing folder for almost two years now, so I figured I might as well start publishing it and continue working on it. I'm probably going to update chapters every other week, but since college takes up almost all of my time nowadays, it might be a little bit longer than that. Anyways, reviews are joy to my heart! Let me know what you guys think! :)

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_Quiet little voices_

_Creep into my head-_

_I'm young again_

_I'm young again_

_I'm young again_

_I'm young again_

**Toccoa, Georgia. July, 1942. **

I took a deep breath before opening the door of the barracks I was assigned to. I glanced around nervously before spotting a pale-skinned man sitting on one of the bunks towards the middle of the room. He was busy worming his hands through his small knap sack and hadn't taken any notice of me. He had short, black hair with eyes that matched and a face that gave away no emotion. I was automatically curious. I hesitantly walked up to the bed next to his and placed my own knapsack onto the ground. He finally noticed I was there and glanced up. My dark, fiery eyes clashed with his own dark, soothing ones. _Polar opposites_, I mused. I slowly smiled and held out a hand.

"Hi, I'm Grace Morris. I, uh, I'm gonna be apart of your company from here on out." I said, watching his reaction. His calm eyes searched mine before his warm hand clasped my own.

"Eugene Roe." He said, a small smile forming it's way on his lips.

I noticed that he had a certain accent that I couldn't place my finger on. I pushed the thought to the back of my head and pulled my hand out of his. After a moment of watching him, I glanced around the barracks.

"Well, they certainly don't know how to decorate a place, huh?" I stated, taking in the very…well, ordinary room.

Eugene smirked, and continued to prod at the belongings in his bag. I threw myself onto my acclaimed bed and glanced at the watch I was wearing. It was only eight in the morning. We were an hour early. I let out a grunt as I rolled onto my back. A few moments of silence passed. I was getting restless.

"I'm bored." I announced, staring at the back of Eugene's head. His movements paused as his brown eyes met mine. He licked his lips when I didn't say anything and only continued to stare at him.

"Uh, well…maybe take ah walk?" He offered in his soft drawl.

I decided at that moment that I was in love with his voice, and I could listen to him talk all day long. A light bulb went off in my head and an excited grin suddenly formed on my face. He looked taken aback by my sudden change of expression. His shocked appearance soon turned wary as I leaned forward with newfound vigor.

"Let me ask you a question!" I burst out, practically bouncing on my bed. His eyes widened slightly, and I thought he looked a little bit like a deer caught in headlights.

"I'll take that as a go-ahead. I need to know, but where the hell are you from? I can't place your accent, and it's bugging me." His eyes lit up in amusement.

"Bayou Chene, Louisiana. Lived deh mah whole life." My nose scrunched up as I racked my brain, trying to think of what that accent would be called. He continued to watch me as I stared intently at him, as if I expected a sign to appear on his forehead with the answer. He jerked in surprise when I jumped up in success.

"Cajun!" I said excitedly. He nodded, and I puffed up in pleasure.

"Yup, I knew it all along. I was just testing you." I joked. His eyebrows rose, but his smile leaked through his eyes.

"You have ah pretty strong accent of yoh own." He commented after a moment, eyes searching mine as if the answer lay somewhere deep in my mind. A grin lit up my face.

"I'm from Bronx, New York." I explained. He nodded his head with a thoughtful look on his face. I scrutinized him for a moment.

"You don't really like to talk all that much, huh?" I stated, more than asked. One of his shoulders raised and lowered in a half-attempted shrug. I leaned my cheek onto my palm.

"Well, you should talk more. Know why?" I asked, a smirk pulling up at my lips. He gave me a curious glance.

"You have an amazing voice." His cheeks automatically began to flame red, and I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in my chest.

My bout of laughter was cut short by the door to the barracks slamming open, revealing a man with dark brown hair and a smile that was contagious. Eugene glanced between both of our grinning faces, confusion etched into his eyes. I jumped up from my bed and made my way over to Mr. Contagious.

"Hi, I'm Grace Morris." I said, holding out my hand just as I did with Eugene. A rough hand clasped my own tightly.

"George Luz! It's nice to meet ya." I noticed his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled, and I thought it'd be a crime to try to smooth them out. I released his hand and gestured over to the brooding man seated behind me.

"And that's Eugene Roe. He doesn't talk much." I stated, grin practically eating up my whole face. Luz set his bag on the bed next to mine and gave a nod to Eugene.

"It's nice to meet ya too, Gene." He said, moving to lie back on his bed.

I nodded to myself, approving of Eugene's newfound name. George's eyes roamed over to me with a curious light in them. I raised my eyebrows in question.

"So how did a pretty girl like you manage to get into the paratroopers?" He asked, placing his interlaced hands behind his head. My smile only widened.

"Well, Luz, I have incredibly resourceful connections." I said, a mysterious lilt to my voice. He let out a huff of breathe and sat up to face me.

"No, really, I'm sure all the other boys will want to know as well." He said. Eugene turned around to face me, eyes all attention. I took a seat on my bed and crossed my legs underneath me with a thoughtful look on my face.

"Well, I'll only tell you guys on one condition." Both of them nodded. Excitement leaked through Luz's eyes and I contained a chuckle. "No interruptions."

"Yeah, no problem." George quickly said, a satisfied smile on his face. I leaned back to rest against the wall, and delved into the story of my enlistment.

_**Flashback**_

**Bronx, New York. May 1942**

I leaned forward against the bar and slid a Rheingold beer into the hands of one of my close friends, Antonio. He gave me a sly wink before snatching up the beer and sauntering off to a woman wrapped up in a skimpy dress. I let out a snort as she slid away from him, a disgusted look on her face. His shoulders slumped in slight disappointment, but he straightened back up after laying his eyes on another victim.

I rolled my eyes and turned back around to fill up another glass of beer for a tall man who was gesturing to me with a raised finger. I slid it over to him, and snatched up the coins he handed to me. My eyes fell over the smoky room as I dried my hands on a towel and I felt a swell of pride. This was my bar, my job, my men, and my home. My ears honed in on a rather loud conversation between a cluster of college students to my right.

"You know, my dad fought in World War I, and I've always looked up to him. I know I'm doing him proud by joining the army." A kid with high cheekbones and unruly hair exclaimed, practically bouncing in his seat. My lips raised in a smirk. He reminded me of a puppy. One of his friends, a guy with forearms the size of trucks, clapped him on the back with a wide grin.

"Yeah, yeah, we know. I can't believe we're going off to train in only a few months." He said, lifting his beer to the others in his group.

My eyebrows rose as they let out a shout and clinked their glasses together before downing them in one go. Expectant eyes turned my way, and I quickly began to fill glasses and pass them over to the group. As I worked, the clocks in my head began turning. I had heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor back in December, and I clearly remembered the President declaring it was time for the Americans to be trained to go to war. A lot of the guys in my neighborhood had signed up right away in desperate need of the money. Even Antonio was going, and the guy was as harmless as a bunny rabbit. My eyes gravitated to him, and I watched with a smile as he chatted up a pretty girl in a green dress. I could tell she was charmed by his boyishness, and I couldn't help but to snigger as his face morphed into a child's grin.

Antonio had always been by my side. His mother and my mother were best friend's-they knew each other way back when they both lived in Argentina. He and I were born there, but I only stayed for a year, while he stayed until he was five. When his family made the move to the United States, they claimed the apartment right next to ours, and Antonio and I had been inseparable ever since. He was like the brother I never had, and it killed me to know that he was going off to war without me.

My lips set into a grim line as I tried to imagine him shooting a gun, killing other men, and living in a world of death. I knew it was something he had to do, not only for himself but also for his family. I knew I had to let him go, no matter how painful it was.

My mind veered back to an article I had seen the other day, and I remembered it had said something about a new group called the "paratroopers." Supposedly, they were going to be the best of the best, and it had automatically piqued my interest. If I went to war, I knew I would join them. I glanced at the college students to my right once more, mind turning with ideas. My thoughts were broken off when a hand slammed down on the bar top in front of me. I nearly dropped the cup I was drying off and raised my head to glare at the man who had done the offense. My face split into a grin when my eyes met bright blue ones.

"Daddy!" I exclaimed, setting down the cup and rushing around the side of the bar to throw myself in his arms. He smelled like an office; fresh and clean with a tinge of freshly brewed coffee. He let out a chuckle and rubbed my head.

"Hey sweetie, how's the night goin' for ya?" He asked, taking a seat on an open stool at the bar. He pulled a cigar out from his front jacket pocket and lit it with a match. I grabbed a lager and slid it towards him, then tucked a strand of dark, chestnut hair behind my ear.

"It's pretty good. Antonio's finally found himself a girl to dote on. It's about time, I thought the poor boy was going to start crying himself to sleep every night." I joked, watching as he blew a puff of smoke to the side. He let out a bark of laughter, and my own grin widened. His eyes roamed around the bar for a second before landing back on my face.

"Seems like business is going pretty well." He commented, raising the lager to his lips and taking a gulp. I turned around to fill a glass of beer and exchanged it to a man for a handful of coins.

"Yeah, it's going great, actually." I replied, a soft smile gracing my face. "I think this was one of the best decision's I've made in my life. This is everything I've ever dreamed of having…" I trailed off, eyes landing back on the group of college students who were still celebrating. My father's eyes followed mine, and he gave me a questioning look. Suddenly, a determined look overtook my eyes and I squared my chest. "But there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Uh-oh. The last time you said that, I had to fight hours on end with you over you keeping a pocketknife. What is it now?" He asked, taking a rather generous gulp of his beer. I rolled my eyes and ran a hand back through my long hair.

"Well, as you know, Antonio joined the army…" I began, glancing up to see him nod, "And it sparked my curiosity. I was reading about this group called the paratroopers. The article said that they would be a unit who specialized in being dropped behind enemy lines to flank them and make way for the other ground troops coming in from the coast. Supposedly, only the best of the best can make it and-"

"No." My father abruptly cut me off. I looked up at him, startled.

"No? What do you mean, no? You didn't even let me finish!" I exclaimed, eyes flashing.

"I hope you haven't forgotten that I raised you, and I can only guess what's going through that wild head of yours. You grew up fighting in gangs on the streets of the Bronx. You wore trousers your whole life and gave your mother grief over wearing dresses. The toughest guys on the streets constantly surround you, protect you like a sister. I wouldn't be surprised if you were involved in the fucking mafia. I know what you are thinking, and I do not approve." He rattled off, leaning forward to glare at me. I matched his glare with a feisty one of my own, letting him know I had no intention of backing down.

"Why?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. His mouth set in a straight line. "I am not sending my only daughter out to be parachuted in the middle of Germany during a goddamn war." He growled, hand tightening over his beer.

"I can help! Antonio's going, and I should be able to go too. I know I can do this. I need to do this." I explained, laying my hand over his.

"Is this what it's about? You want to follow Antonio into battle? Grace, I know he's like a brother to you, but-"

"No!" I cut him off, "this isn't about Antonio. This is about me. I want to fight for my country. Even if no other man in this borough was going, I would still want to sign up. Besides, I wouldn't even be in the same division as Antonio. He's not going to be a paratrooper." My father's icy, blue eyes seared holes into my own before he stood up and motioned for me to follow him.

He led me to the back door of the bar and to the alleyway beyond that. He leaned against a brick wall, arms crossed over his suit. I lifted my head to stare up at him, and I could see the wrinkles lining his face. I knew he was upset by what I was suggesting, but I needed to do this.

"Please, Daddy. If there's one girl on the earth who can do this, it's me. And I can get in-if you just talked to President Roosevelt about it. Hell, I'll talk to him about it if you want. I just gotta do this." I said softly, trying to make him understand. He looked away, and I followed his gaze to the moon.

"I already lost your mom. You're the only thing I have left. Why are you trying to leave me?" He muttered. I almost didn't hear him, and I almost wished I hadn't. It stung, and he knew he had hit a weak point within me when I didn't say anything back. "You're my _daughter._ I promised her I would keep you safe. I promised her I would watch over you and keep you out of trouble. I can't do that when you're across the world from me."

"I don't _need_ protection. I know I'm your daughter and I know you don't want to let me go, but I'll come back. I promise you I'll come back, and when I do you'll be the proudest Dad in the world, because you'll be the only parent who's daughter helped win this war. I can handle myself, and you know this better than anybody. I grew up fighting, I grew up tough. I can get through this, and I am determined to join them. I will fight with the best, and I will _be_ the best." I said, a passion in my voice that had tears welling up in his eyes. He dragged a hand over his face and pulled me to his chest with his free hand. I knew I had won, and it left me feeling empty and fulfilled at the same time. I would be a paratrooper.

_**End of flashback**_

"And that, my dear friends, is how I became a paratrooper." I concluded, waiting for a round of applause.

"Wait a second, wait a second. That doesn't explain _how_ you got in." George pointed out. I put a finger to my chin and thought back.

"Oh, I guess you're right. Well, to put it in simple terms, my dad is the assistant to President Roosevelt. He is like an uncle to me, so naturally, he was the one who allowed me to join." I explained.

"Woah! The _President?_ Like, the actual president?" Luz asked, shock written on his face. Eugene gave me a skeptical look. I smirked and nodded.

"Yup, the one and only. He and my dad have been friends almost their whole lives, so it was only natural that he worked for the president. It was difficult for him, though, since my mom refused to live anywhere but New York, so my dad was always traveling between D.C. and New York whenever he had free time. I didn't see him much as a child, but when I did it was like Christmas every time." I said, smiling as I thought back to the times he would surprise me by coming home unannounced.

"I never would've guessed." George said with his eyebrows raised.

"Well, boys, I'm full of surprises." I winked, trying to contain a chuckle as I saw Eugene's amused face. My attention was quickly diverted to the door when I heard the thumping of boots on the ground and loud voices.

"I think some of the boys are here." George said, jumping up onto his feet.

Eugene stuck his hands back into his bag and busied himself once more. The door to the barracks burst open and a group of men shuffled in, curiosity lighting their faces. I leaned back on the palms of my hands and watched as George practically danced around them, trying to get all of their names. I decided to sit back and let George do all of the work. I glanced over at Eugene and gave him a smile. His lips quirked upwards uncomfortably, and I had the sudden urge to smooth out the worry lines creasing his forehead.

"Who's da girl?" A man with a Philly accent suddenly asked, dark eyes directed at me. I sent him a small wave.

"I'm Grace Morris." I announced, smile practically splitting my face. These were the men I was going to train with. These were the men I was going to fight with. "And who might this lovely gentleman be?" The dark-haired man stepped forward and offered me his hand. He was quite handsome with a strong jaw and tiny eyes that had a habit of glaring.

"Bill Guarnere." He said, wrapping his hand tightly around mine.

"I've been down to Philly quite a bit. What part are you from?" I asked after he had released my hand. A grin formed on his face.

"South Philly." He answered, seeming to be quite proud of this fact. I gave him an impressed look.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Bronx." I said. He looked surprised, but nodded after a moment.

Our attention was stolen away from each other when Luz leapt onto my bed, excitement still brewing in his eyes. He started rattling off names, pointing at the men surrounding the barracks, "That's Carwood Lipton, then over there in the corner with the bright red hair is Donald Malarkey, the Hispanic looking kid is Darrel Powers, the small, skinny guy is Robert Wynn, the guy next to him is Wayne Sisk, the small, Italian looking guy is Frank Perconte, next to him is Charles Grant, and then there's Joe Liebgott, the tall, skinny one-"

"All right! Jesus, Luz, how do you expect me to remember all their names so quick?" I cut him off, overwhelmed. I gave the men a smile when their eyes traveled over to me, "Well, not that I don't want to know your names, I just figured I'd eventually learn them over time. I'll work on it, promise!" The men laughed, and then began shuffling around the room, choosing which bunks they wanted. As the time passed, even more men filed into the room, and soon every bed was taken up. I was between Luz and Roe, and Gaurnere had quickly claimed the cot directly across from mine. Next to him were Liebgott and Powers. I leaned back with a smile on my face, already ticking off the names of the men Luz had pointed out.

"Bill!" I yelled, jumping across the space between our cots.

He let out a bark of laughter as I practically landed in his lap, reaching for my bra. He dangled it above his head, and all the boys let out catcalls. I huffed in annoyance and clawed my way up his body, reaching for the clothing article. "I swear to god, Bill Gaurnere, if you do not give me back my fucking bra I will personally chop your dick off and feed it to wild pigs." I growled. His eyes widened slightly and I took that as my chance to make the final leap.

I managed to get the bra, but I ended upside down on the floor with my head spinning. I let out a groan as the men laughed, and I swore revenge on Guarnere. Eugene helped me up, giving me a sympathetic look. I squared my shoulders and turned to glare at Bill.

"The next time you touch any of my personal shit, I will kick you in the balls so hard, you'll barf them up." I growled, inching my way closer to the chuckling man. He laid a hand on my head and tousled my hair.

"Awh, Gracie, lighten up a bit. I was only playing around." He said fondly, though I noticed he kept a good distance between our bodies. I brushed his hand off my head and smirked.

"Right, well keep this in mind-I wasn't playing around when I said that. You better make sure those puppies are well-protected." I said before marching back to my cot to stuff the bra into my knap sack. Sniggers surrounded me as Bill slowly shook his head, an amused but wary smile on his face.

"You aren't like any other dame I've ever met." Luz muttered from beside me, sizing me up. I tossed my long, dark hair behind me.

"And you'll never meet another like me." I said back, grinning.

A few moments later, the door to the barracks opened up again. This time, three men entered-a tall, lanky one with beady eyes, a tall one with red hair and blue eyes that matched my father's, and a shorter, dark-haired one. I recognized that they were a higher rank then I-one a 1st lt. and the other two 2nd lts. I stood up and automatically snapped a salute. The boys followed soon after, and a resounded "Sir!" was heard bouncing against the walls.

"At ease boys. I am Lieutenant Sobel, and I am your commanding officer. Next to me are 2nd Lieutenant Winters and 2nd Lieutenant Nixon." The tall, lanky one announced, beady eyes glaring out at us with contempt.

A bad feeling crawled against my skin when I heard his voice, and I almost slapped myself. He was my commanding officer and I had to respect him. As if he could read my thoughts, Lt. Sobel's glaring eyes found mine.

"What the hell is a _woman_doing in my company?" He shouted, marching forward to size me up. I straightened my back and snapped another salute as he stopped in front of me.

"I am Private Grace Morris. You should have received a letter addressed from President Roosevelt informing you of my arrival to become part of Easy Company." I said, trying to not glare back at the tall man.

There was something about him that I did not like. There was something about him that made me want to punch him in his face. He whirled around and landed his feverish eyes on the redheaded man standing by the door.

"Winters! Did you receive any letters notifying us about her?" He demanded, anger apparent in his voice. I suppressed myself from rolling my eyes. Lt. Winters nodded, "Yes sir, the letter arrived earlier this morning while you were out preparing the training field. I had not gotten the chance to inform you of the letter, but Private Morris is indeed a part of Easy Company, according to the President." His voice was calm, soothing, and I found myself feeling more respect towards this man than Sobel. Sobel marched up to Winters, eyes practically on fire.

"And where exactly is this letter, Lieutenant? I'd like to see it with my own eyes." He hissed out.

The redhead shuffled around in his pockets before pulling out an envelope and handing it over to Sobel. The Lieutenant pulled out the letter and scanned over it, eyes narrowing and mouth forming into a tight line. His head snapped up to me, and he looked me up and down before shoving the letter back into Winters hands. I tried to hold back a smirk, knowing exactly what the letter said. He marched up to me and poked a finger into my chest, heat seeping through his eyes. I glared back at him, standing tall.

"You'll be out of here soon enough _private_." He hissed, before abruptly spinning around and moving back towards the door. I glanced at 2nd lt. Winters and saw him give me a small smile. My lips twitched up, then straightened out when Sobel shot me another look. I repressed a roll of my eyes.

"All right, Easy Company! I want you to change into your PT gear. We're running Currahee!" He shouted.

The men around me automatically began bustling around to change into the white t-shirt and the dark, blue short-shorts. I pulled mine out and glared at the clothing articles, not too happy about the shorts. I sucked in a deep breath and began to strip, trying to be as quick as possible. Luz glanced over at me and gave me a sly wink. I stuck my tongue out at him and hastily pulled the shirt over my head, trying not to gain more attention. When I looked over at Eugene, his face was bright red and he looked anywhere but at me. I let out a chuckle and pulled on the heavy, army boots, grimacing at how uncomfortable they were. As a group, we double-timed it out of the barracks and followed Winters and Sobel to the mountain we were to run up. I gawked at it, and then nudged Liebgott in the ribs. He grunted and glanced down at me.

"That's Currahee?" I whispered, biting my lip. His lip rose in a smirk, but I could see the incredulous look in his eyes.

"I suppose so."

I glued my eyes back to the mountain, and gathered up my determination. This was just a test, and I would be damned to hell if I didn't pass it. I noticed the boys around me looking skeptical and I shot them a smile that said _we can do this._ They grinned back and picked up their speed, following Sobel up the long, winding path leading up the mountain.

Halfway up, I was certain I would die. Men were dropping out in groups of two's and three's and we weren't allowed to help them up. When I had tried to pull a fellow soldier to his feet, Sobel had slowed down to shout at me and give me a shove forward. I shot the fallen soldier a sympathetic look, trying to tell him with my eyes that I was sorry. My whole shirt was soaked with sweat, and I wanted to turn the sun off. It was way too fucking hot. Sobel kept running around us in circles, constantly throwing insults at the men. I could tell I was one of his favorites.

"Private Morris, why don't you just give up? Women don't belong in the paratroopers! Why don't you go home to daddy and play dress up?" He yelled directly in my ear. I clenched my jaw and sped up, trying to get away from him. He followed on my heels, though, "You're a _nothing._ You think these men want you here? You'll get us all killed in combat. Can't you see they despise you? It'll be so easy to give up!" He growled.

I forced myself to not turn around and drop kick his ass. After senselessly yelling at me for a few more minutes, he gave up and went to go scream at another victim. Liebgott and Guarnere ran up on either sides of me, and I nodded at them in acknowledgement.

"Hey Gracie," Gaurnere panted, "Don't listen to him. We _do_ want you here." Liebgott nodded, tapping my back with his hand. A grin split my face in half, and they smiled back.

"Thanks, guys." I managed to huff out. As we got closer to the top, the path began to narrow.

I could spot Sobel at the very top of the mountain behind a large boulder, holding a timer and screaming at the men who made it to the top. Winters was off to the side, pushing the soldiers forward and trying to drown out Sobel's insults with encouraging words. When I reached the rock, Sobel stepped around it, and I could see trouble in his eyes.

"You're gonna be a fucking wash-out, private Morris!" He shouted in my face. Before I knew what was happening, I was falling forward down the steep incline. I let out a grunt when I finally managed to claw at the ground and stop myself. I glanced up to see Sobel back behind the rock with a self-satisfactory smirk on his face.

"Gracie! Fuck, you okay?" Luz asked, skidding to a sharp stop when he saw me sprawled out on the ground.

I let out a growl and pushed myself up, shooting Sobel a glare. His eyebrows raised, and then he diverted his attention to the other men. "Come on, we gotta get out of the way." Luz grabbed my arm and dragged me down the mountain. Ahead of us, I spotted Liebgott, Gaurnere, and Roe. They slowed down, letting George and I catch up to them. Eugene's eyes widened when he took in my appearance. I could only imagine what a mess I looked like.

"What happened to you?" He asked, laying a hand on my arm.

"Fucking Sobel tripped me, that sonuva bitch!" I said, completely outraged. What kind of fucking Lieutenant trips somebody down a mountain? And a very steep mountain, at that. I knew the guy hated me, but Jesus Christ, this was going too far.

"Sobel _tripped_ you?" Liebgott asked, surprise written on his exhausted face. I nodded, "Yeah. Trust me, if there's one thing I am-it's coordinated. He came around that fucking rock to yell at me, and the next thing I know, I'm falling down the hill."

"I saw the bastard do it." Luz said, sweat dripping down his face. I whipped my head around to look at him.

"You did?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was right behind you. He stuck his foot out and you fell over it, and trust me, that was no accident."

"I can't believe that bastard." Gaurnere said, shaking his head.

"If that fucker thinks he can break me so easy, than he's going to be in for one hell of a surprise." I said, eyes narrowed. Hell, I wouldn't let him drag me down. No matter what, I was going to make it through this. I was going to become a paratrooper.

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**A/N:** In case anybody was wondering, the song in the beginning is called "Quiet Little Voices" by We Were Promised Jetpacks


	2. 2: Revenge

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters yo

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_Pray to your god, open your heart_

_Whatever you do, don't be afraid of the dark_

_Cover your eyes, the devil's inside_

_One night of the hunter_

_One day I will get revenge_

_One night to remember_

_One day it'll all just end _

_**Camp Toccoa: One week later**_

It was hot, way too fucking hot. The company had been ordered to gear up and stand at attention until Sobel got here. I could see the sweat streaming in torrents down the necks of the men and I could feel bugs biting at my skin. I lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from my eyes and saw Nixon slap at his neck, trying to crush a fly that had nipped at him roughly. Just at that moment, Sobel traipsed over, a furious look on his face.

"You _people _are at the position of attention!" He shouted.

Automatically, everybody in the company straightened their backs even more and followed his movements with wary eyes. In the past week, we had learned that the man was equivalent to the devil. He worked us harder than any other company, and seemed to take pleasure in our pain. If I had disliked him the first day, by now I was almost to the point of murdering him in his sleep. He stalked forward, eyeing up the men, then stopped before Frank. I exchanged glances with Liebgott, who was standing next to me. We knew what was coming next.

"Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a _paratrooper?_" He spit out.

"No sir!" Frank said automatically, trying to keep his face neutral. Sobel loved it when he got a reaction out of us, and we were learning to control our feelings.

"Then explain the creases at the bottom." There was a momentary pause.

"No excuse, sir." Sobel raised his eyes from Frank's and glanced at the over-heated company. I gritted my teeth, knowing full well that Frank had spent hours smoothing out those pants.

"Volunteering for the parachute infantry is one thing, Perconte, but you've got a _long _way to prove that you belong here. Your weekend pass is revoked." He said, giving the shorter man a glare before moving on through the company. He stopped again before George, and I bit my lip.

"Name!"

"Luz, George." He answered, his nervousness jumbling up his words so that it came out sounding like "Lud Gawge." Sobel grabbed his rifle and examined it briefly, before tossing it back to George.

"Dirt in the rear-side aperture. Pass revoked." He said, and then continued down the line. He stopped before Johnny Martin and eyed him from head to toe for a few moments, glancing briefly at Bull who was positioned directly behind him. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything and instead walked away, only to have something catch his eye on Lipton's uniform.

"When did you sew on these chevrons, Sergeant Lipton?" He asked, face close to Lipton's shoulder. I squinted against the sun, trying to figure out what the problem was with his uniform.

"Yesterday, sir." Sobel pulled off a small piece of string that was barely visible and held it up to Lipton's face.

"Long enough to notice this. Revoked." He threw the string on the ground and walked away, ignoring Lipton's acknowledgement of "Sir." He popped up in front of Marlarkey, who jumped a little bit when he raised his rifle for inspection. I shook my head, shooting Liebgott a frown.

"Name!" Sobel barked.

"Malarkey, Donald G!"

"Malarkey…Malarkey slang for bull_shit_, isn't it?" Sobel grabbed his rifle and started to inspect it.

"Yes, sir!" The redhead's eyebrows furrowed and he waited for his own pass to be revoked for some non-existent mistake. He held up the gun to Don's face after a moment.

"Rust on the butt-plate, Private _bullshit_. Revoked." He tossed the rifle back. Skip Muck glanced behind him to catch Malarkey's eye for a second. This time, Sobel stopped right in front of me. I held my breath as his angry, beady eyes met mine.

"Well, well, Private Morris. It seems you forgot something this afternoon." He smirked, eyes traveling down my body. I repressed a shiver and continued to stare forward. His finger jabbed into my chest and I tried my hardest not to flinch. I could feel Liebgott tense up beside me. "Next time, remember to button everything on your uniform, Private. Weekend pass, revoked." He dug his finger into my chest even more; taking pleasure in the pained look that appeared on my face.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" I said, voice a little bit strained. A button? Fucking _asshole_. He removed his finger and stopped in front of Liebgott, who looked like he was about to kill the man at any moment.

"Name!"

"Liebgott, Joseph D, sir!" Sobel leaned over to grab the bayonet from his holster. He turned it over in his hands, then gave Liebgott a skeptical look.

"Rusty bayonet, Liebgott. You wanna kill Germans?" He asked.

"Yes sir." The skinny man answered, only to be hit on the helmet roughly with his own bayonet. He flinched and I pursed my lips. I did _not _like seeing my boys treated like that.

"Not with this." Sobel turned around and marched back to the front of the company. He raised the bayonet up in the air so everybody could see it.

"I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war and I will not take _you_ to war in your condition!" He threw the bayonet onto the ground and continued, "Now thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass has lost it! Change into your PT gear, we're running Currahee!" He shouted, then abruptly turned around and began marching away. Winters spun on his heel to face us.

"Second platoon, fall out. You have two minutes." He ordered. As a group, we all double-timed it back to the barracks and scrambled into our gear. Liebgott grabbed my upper arm and I spun to face him, eyebrow raised.

"You okay? I saw what he did, that fucking bastard." He growled, hand tightening over my arm. A bittersweet smile formed its way onto my lips at his concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was nothing compared to him whacking you with your own bayonet. I fucking hate watching him treat you guys like that." I said, shaking my head. I'd love to shove that bayonet right up his fucking asshole. Liebgott let go of my arm and ruffled my hair.

"Nah, it was nothing. Guess we all just gotta get through it." He said, winking before heading over to his cot to change into his gear. I sighed and began to strip.

"I ain't going up that hill." I heard Perconte announce. I glanced over to see him sitting dejectedly on his bed wearing his shorts, boots, and jacket. Before anybody could say anything, the door burst open, revealing a _very_ pissed off Johnny Martin.

"Hey Perconte, what are you thinking of, blousing your pants?" He shot out, walking quickly to his own bed.

"Shut up, come on, he got everybody!" Frank threw back, clearly annoyed. I repressed a roll of my eyes. They should know better than to fight over fucking Sobel.

"Yeah? Well you should know betta! Don't give 'im no excuses!"

"Excuses?" Perconte stood up swiftly and pointed downwards, "Why don't you come here, look at these trousers, get down and you tell me if there's a crease on 'em!" Before Martin could say anything back, Lipton marched in, ready to herd us up. He clapped his hands twice to gain our attention.

"All right, let's go, on the road! PT formation, let's move, move, _move_!" He shouted. The men bustled out, and I gave Frank a pat on the shoulder as I passed by. He managed to muster up a small smile.

"Perconte, let's _go__**, **_Perconte." Lipton urged. Frank unbuttoned his jacket, still simmering, and followed us out the door. I slowed down to walk beside him and laid a hand on his arm.

"I saw how much time and effort you put in to making those trousers as smooth as possible. Sobel was out to get all of us, so don't listen to Johnny. He's just pissed and taking it out on the wrong people. All right?" I shot him a half-smile, hoping he would calm down. He let out a sigh and smiled back.

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard to keep that in mind after having something like that happen. Fucking Sobel." He muttered.

"Amen to that." I laughed, then moved forward to walk in between Liebgott and Eugene. As we made our way to the mountain, we ran into another company who was dressed up to go out.

"Awh, Easy Company! Hey, while you're running, don't worry, we'll take your dames to the movies for ya!" One of the soldiers taunted, a shit-eating grin on his face. I wanted to smack it off of him, and I could tell Liebgott felt the same way.

"Yeah, I'm sure ya need some female company!" He retorted, glaring at the other men.

He nudged me in the side with a pointed look and I shot him a grin as we began to jog forward, pushing our way through the other company. We shoved some of the men over and smacked their caps off of their heads, grins on our faces. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, Sobel was already waiting for us.

"Where do we run?" He shouted, eyes traveling over our already-sweating bodies.

"Currahee!" We shouted back in unison.

"What's Currahee mean?"

"We stand alone!"

"How far up, how far down?"

"Three miles up, three miles down!"

"Now what company is this?"

"Easy Company!"

"And what do we do?"

"We stand alone!" At that moment, Muck's leg gave out, causing him to stumble and fall forward with a shout. Malarkey and Gordon grabbed either side of his arms, trying to support his weight between the two of them. Sobel automatically noticed this and jogged up beside them.

"Do _not_ help that man! Do not help that man! Do not stop!" He screamed at them. I wanted to punch him in the face. How did he expect us to not help our fucking comrades? "You have thirteen minutes to get to the top of this mountain if you wanna serve in the paratroopers! Hi-ho silver!" He sped up to run beside the group of men in front of us. Luz ran up behind me and gave me a shove in the back.

"What the fuck, Luz?" I huffed out, shooting him a glare.

He grinned innocently and passed by me, running full-speed. I shook my head and chased after him, Eugene and Liebgott following close behind. When we made it to the top, Luz stayed beside me and gave Sobel a glare before pushing me in front of him down the other side of the mountain. I skidded a little bit, trying not to run into Guarnere who was still on his way up. I slapped my hand on his arm and shot him a smile. He quickly gave me a wink and then practically climbed on all fours the rest of the way up, the remainder of the company following close behind.

Later that night, I jumped onto Luz's bed, catching him by surprise. He jumped up and landed on his ass on the floor. Laughter erupted around us.

"Aye, Luz, letting the girly scare ya, huh?" Guarnere chuckled, lounging back on his cot.

"Awh, shut up Gonorrhea, you know as well as I do how scary Gracie is." Luz called from his position on the floor. I couldn't help but to smirk.

"Yeah, sure, sure. Keep telling ya self that." Luz stood up and seated himself back on the bed, giving me a fake glare.

"Now why'd you have to go and do that for, huh?" He asked, playfully giving me a shove. I caught his arm and pulled him closer to me, so my mouth was next to his ear.

"I know what you did up there." I whispered, not wanting the other men to hear.

"What do you mean, "up there"?" He questioned, turning his head to search my eyes. I pursed my lips.

"You know, on Currahee. When you made sure Sobel couldn't get to me. Listen, I just wanted to say thanks, but I don't need special treatment like that. I can take whatever that bastard gives to me, even if it's rolling all the way down a fucking mountain. I'm not easy to break, and it's about time he learned that." I said quietly, giving Luz a stern look.

He needed to know I didn't need protection. I was an adult, and I joined the paratroopers to be just that, a paratrooper. Not a woman who needed the whole damn company to look after her. Luz ran a hand back through his hair.

"Now that's not fair, Grace. You're constantly looking after everybody else. Come on, remember that one time Sobel went to go shove Bull and you fell out of formation on purpose to grab his attention only for him to rip into you? Or the time Malarkey tripped over a rock flat on his face, and you helped him all the way down the mountain, even though Sobel was screaming at you the whole time? I could name a thousand times you've saved somebody else's hide in this past week, so why don't you let us help you out a bit? Especially since you seem to be one of his favorites." He said bitterly.

I shook my head and searched his eyes with mine, "I do that because I care a lot about you guys. I hate seeing him rip into all of you, and shit, if me running out of formation for a second or two or helping an injured person down the mountain prevents that, then I'll do it in a heartbeat. Sobel won't question that, but if he sees you guys trying to help me out, he'll use it against me. He hates me more than anybody in this company, and he knows how to get under people's skin. He might even go harder on you guys if he sees you helping me. I don't want that to happen. I really can handle myself, you just gotta trust me on this, George." I explained, trying to make him understand. I could tell it didn't get through, though, when a glare appeared in his eyes. I let out a sigh, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"And what? You think we don't care about you? None of us give a fuck if he gives us shit for helping you, it doesn't matter. We're a company, Grace; we have to be there for each other. Even if you try to convince us not to help you out, nobody here is going to listen. So ya better stop with this nonsense." He finished, giving me a hard look. I threw my hands up in the air, completely frustrated. This got a few curious looks.

"Come _on_, George, please! This is the one thing I will ever ask you for! The only thing I'll ask any of you guys for! You just _gotta_ understand. I _want _to fight for this. I want to be a paratrooper; I want this more than life. I don't want to be a handicap to you guys, so I'll prove it to that bastard that I'm not. I'm _more _than that, and I'll be dead before I'm not one of the best. So,_ please_," I glanced around, noticing that most of the guys were listening in by now, "_please_, keep that in mind next time you think about helping me."

George abruptly stood up, dragging me over to a group that had conglomerated at Guarnere's bed to inconspicuously listen in. He pushed me towards Bill, who stuck out an arm to steady me. I turned around to gawk at Luz.

"What the f-"

"You tell her how it is, Gaurnere! Nothing I say is getting through her thick head." He interrupted, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at me. My mouth opened and closed a few times before I rounded on Bill.

"He-!" He abruptly cut me off, placing his hands on either side of my shoulders.

"Ya know, he's right, Gracie. We're not gonna listen to ya." He announced, a smirk on his lips. I shoved his hands off of me and took a step back.

"I cannot _believe_ the two of you!" I said, completely frustrated. Geez, I would have thought that they would be happy to have one less person to worry about.

"Make that uh, well, the rest of the barrack." Liebgott piped up from his bed.

I glanced around, noticing that somehow, we were the main highlight of the night. I mentally smacked myself. Next time I needed to talk to George about something secret, we'd have to go to fucking outer space to keep it how it was supposed to be-_a secret._ I shot him a glare and crossed my arms.

"Oh for the love of god, did you people not hear _anything_ I said? It makes sense! All I wanna do is get through Sobel's shitty training. The fucker thinks I can't do it, and I'm gonna prove him wrong. But if I'm getting help, then how am I proving anything? This is my revenge, goddammit!" I practically stomped my foot, but restrained myself from doing so and instead settled on a deep frown.

"Gracie, listen to me. Do ya think anybody, no matter if it's a man or a woman, is gonna get through this training by themselves? So far, every man here has gotten help, not just from you, but from the rest of us as well. That's the only way we're going to get through this, through the help of our comrades. We're gonna go to war together, gonna protect each other. It's our job to help the people in our company. Just because we help ya a little bit doesn't mean you haven't proven that you're one badass motherfucker. And if Sobel doesn't get that, than what does it matter? You're gonna prove it to yourself, and the men in the rest of the company. Isn't that enough already? Asking us to not help ya out is a waste of your breath. Even if we agree, the minute we see him messing with you, we'll help. It's a reflex now, just like it's a reflex for you to throw yourself in his line of fire to help one of us out. Ya get it?" Gaurnere explained, face serious and void of any humor. I knew he meant business, and I knew what he was saying was right. I let out a sigh and placed my hands on top of his.

"…Yeah, I get it. I guess I've just let him get into my head so much that now I'm all riled up about this revenge I want…it was stupid of me to ask you guys to do something like that. I know if any of you requested that of me, I'd say no right away. The fucker just pisses me off so much, I hate seeing the way he treats you-" I stopped talking when I saw Luz and Gaurnere give me a stern look, "I mean, us. I thought if I couldn't beat his scrawny ass up, I could just piss him off by making it through all of this by myself. But I get that that's impossible. I need you guys, and well, I'm sorry." I said, lowering my head.

It was not every day that I was forced to apologize. The only men I've ever had to apologize to were my dad and Antonio. Luz wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tousled my hair.

"Apology accepted. And don't worry, we're all gonna get revenge on that skinny-assed bastard. We'll make sure of it." He grinned. I rolled my eyes, smiling back up at him. Lipton opened the door of the barracks, interrupting our little powwow…thing.

"All right, guys! Lights out, we've got an early morning tomorrow!" He shouted, beginning to strip down beside his own bed. I turned to the other boys and smiled.

"Night, guys. Sorry about all this, I swear I'm not always so emotional. Just when it comes to Sobel." I joked.

They laughed and headed to their own beds, exhaustion weighing down on their shoulders. I quickly hopped into my own bed, burying my face in my pillow. I turned my head to the side, catching the eyes of the man in the bed next to me.

"Goodnight, Gene!" I whispered excitedly.

"Night, Gracie." He whispered back, a smile on his lips.

"What, I don't get a special goodnight?" Luz complained from the other side of me. I let out a huff.

"Geez, so needy. Good night, sweetie!" I said, letting out a chuckle.

"Awh, thank you, pumpkin!"

"Guys! Sleep! _Now!"_ Lipton ordered, voice muffled by the blanket he had thrown over his head. I snorted.

"Yup, got it Moth-I mean, Sarge!" I called out.

A few chuckles resounded before the barracks settled into a deep silence. A few minutes later, we were all knocked out, dreaming of sleeping in beds that had mattresses that were actually comfortable and Sobel getting shot in both of his knees.

* * *

Hey guys, sorry it took me awhile to get this chapter up! I was going to upload it earlier this week, but I accidentally left my flash drive at home so I had to wait until this weekend to upload the next chapter _ I was really afraid I had lost it because when I got home, I literally could not find it anywhere but turns out I stuck it in one of my sweatshirt pockets, so now I'm all giddy with relief. I'm pretty sure losing my flash drive would just end me tbh, it's one of my worst fears. I have a back up flash drive, but it hasn't been updated for quite awhile so I would lose some of my works (including the latest chapters for this story) so that would be no bueno. Anywho, I'm rambling again, I have an issue when there's nobody to really stop me.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this one and let me know what you think :) Third chapter should be up within two weeks again !


	3. 3: Pardon Me

_A decade ago, I never thought I would be at twenty three  
On the verge of spontaneous combustion, woe is me  
But I guess that it comes with the territory  
An ominous landscape of never ending calamity  
I need you to hear, I need you to see  
That I have had all I can take  
And exploding seems like a definite possibility to me_

**Camp Toccoa; September 1942**

** "**We have to do _what_ now?" I asked, gawking at the obstacle course sprawled out in front of us. There were rows of tires, towering wooden walls, monkey bars, balance beams, and a pissed off Sobel standing in front of us. Eugene ignored my question and scrutinized the course, trying to figure it out.

"By the end of today, I want each and every one of you to make it through this course in ten minutes! Failure to do so will end in all of your weekend passes being revoked! Get to it, soldiers!" He shouted, stepping back. Lt. Winters appeared from his shadow and clapped his hands to gain our attention.

"All right, you heard the Captain! Let's go, go, _go!_" He called out.

I lingered back for a moment, allowing the rest of the company to pass by me. Up ahead, I could see many of the men tripping over the tires, only to jump back up and keep pressing forward. I pushed at the guy in front of me, realizing it was Malarkey when he turned around to glare at me. I shot him a smile and urged him forward again. He tripped towards the middle, and I lugged him up, pushing him through the rest of the tires. We sprinted to the first wall, and I could see many of the men slipping down it, unable to vault themselves over. Malarkey scrambled up easily, flipping himself over to the other side. I glanced around and spotted Blithe off to the side, squinting up at the wall as if it would suddenly disappear and allow him to pass on. I bit my lip and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the wall.

"Come on, Blithe. We gotta get through this." I said, leaning down and holding my hands out to give him a boost. He simply stared at me for a few moments, trying to decipher what it was I wanted him to do. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Step on my hands, I'll help you up." I said.

He hesitantly laid his boot on my hand, and I used all my strength to help push him up. He grabbed a hold of the edge of the wall, and I scrambled up beside him, pulling him over the edge to the other side. He landed on his ass, and I gave him a hand up, then pushed him forward towards the rest of the course. He stopped, turned to face me, and mouthed _thank you _before taking off. I grinned and turned around to pull myself back up the wall. Luz was hanging on the other end and almost let go when I popped my head over the side. I grabbed his arm and tugged him over, sweat dripping down my face.

"Careful there, George." I joked, giving him a nudge with my foot so he would drop down. He paused and glanced back up at me.

"What the hell are you doing, Gracie? Come on!" He called, eyebrows furrowed.

"Go ahead, get going. We have to get through this together, and I'm not leaving anybody behind." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Gracie, you're one hell of a girl. I'll see ya later!" He grinned, charging to the next part of the course.

One by one, I helped lug the rest of the company up, making sure everybody had gotten over the wall. When the last man made it, I dropped down onto my feet and sped through the rest of the course, breathing hard. The last part was another wall, but this one was much, much higher. I let out a frustrated growl, and noticed that a few men were still struggling.

"Come on, guys! We're almost there!" I shouted, pushing at their boots to help them up.

"Gracie? What the hell are you doing down there? I woulda thought you'd be on the other side." Perconte said, sliding down the wall for what looked like the 15th time. His uniform was soaked in sweat, and I could tell he was tired.

"Eh, had to help a few of the men clear the first wall. Let's go, Frank, we're the last ones." I said, kneeling on the ground and holding my hands out just as I did with Blithe.

He quickly stepped on and I boosted him up, grinning as he managed to grab onto the edge of the wall. He pulled himself over and I heard the _thump_ of his body on the other side. I backed up, squinting at the wall, then ran forward. I jumped up, and missed the edge by an inch or two.

"_Fuck."_ I muttered, backing up again. This time, I managed to grab hold.

"Who is that?" I heard somebody from the other side question.

"Gracie." Another voice piped up.

"What the fuck? How did she end up last?"

"Was helping guys get over the wall."

"Come on, Gracie!"

My fingers lost their grip and I landed roughly on my back. The air whooshed out of my lungs, but I forced myself to stand up. I backed up even further this time, and ran with all my strength. I finally managed to get a good grip on the wall, and tumbled over to the other side. Bull was waiting on the other side, arms raised to catch me. My eyes widened when I landed against his chest. I glanced up to see him grinning down at me.

"For the love of-! Put me down right now, Denver Randleman!" I exclaimed, thrashing my legs. He quickly set me down with a shit-eating grin and I kicked him in the shin.

"The next time you do that, I will chop off your goddamn legs so you have to _drag_ yourself through this damnable course." I threatened, letting out a huff of air. He chuckled and rubbed my head.

"Yeah, I'm sure ya will, Gracie." He said fondly.

I pursed my lips and let my eyes travel over the rest of the men, making sure everybody was there and okay. Bull nudged my side and I turned to see Winters standing in front of us, timer in hand.

"Thirteen minutes, thirty seconds." He announced, "Let's do it again, Easy Company!" I momentarily leaned on Bull, trying to catch my breath and gain back my strength. It was going to be one hell of a long day.

I flopped down on the ground next to Gaurnere, panting roughly. Most of the men hadn't bothered to move from their position on the ground after making it over the last wall. We had been repeating the obstacle course over and over all damn day, missing the time limit by only a few seconds. The sun was beginning to set behind the landscape, and I felt like dying. I turned my head towards Lt. Winters and Lt. Nixon, silently pleading to God that we had made it.

"Eight minutes, ten seconds." Winters said, a slight smile pulling up at the corners of his lips.

"Woo!" I shouted, the only thing I could really do at the moment. The Company echoed me, but we quieted down when Sobel made his grand entrance. I managed to lug myself to my feet and snap to attention.

"At ease! You boys did a good job today, but you can do better! We'll be marching 12 miles tonight! Be ready, Easy Company!" He shouted, and then slinked off towards the barracks.

I plopped onto the ground once he was out of view, completely drained. This man could not be fucking serious. I could barely stand up, nonetheless march for 12 goddamn miles. Liebgott let out a sigh from behind me and grabbed my arm, hauling me up.

"Come on, Gracie. Let's go to the barracks to get a little bit of rest." He said, pulling me with the crowd of other men. Once inside, I threw myself on the first cot I saw.

"Aye, Gracie, you're in my goddamn bed." Joe Toye said, standing beside me. I turned my head to glare at him.

"And how many times did I help you get up those fucking walls?" I shot back. He smirked and plopped himself next to me. His eyebrows shot up in surprise when I didn't move.

"Woah, woah, woah. Usually you'd be either punching me in the face or running. Damn, you must be tired." He exclaimed, looping his arm around my waist and pulling me to his chest. I let out a warning growl.

"Yes, I'm fucking tired. Do you know how hard it is lugging a bunch of full-grown men over 20 ft tall walls all damn day? And don't you dare try anything, Joe. This is a one time thing, I'm too damn exhausted to move." I said, dropping my head onto his shoulder. He chuckled, and I could feel his warmth through my back. I closed my eyes, promising myself I was only resting my eyes for a minute. Just a minute…or two…

"Gracie! Gracie, come on, get up!" A hand shook my shoulder frantically and I scrambled back, knocking into Joe. He awoke with a start and fell off the side of the bed, dragging me down with him. A couple of heads popped over the side of the bed. Guarnere, Liebgott, and Luz all had their eyebrows raised as they gazed upon me and Joe tangled up together.

"Jesus _Christ_." I muttered, pulling myself up off Joe and onto the bed. He stood up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I turned to the three grinning men.

"Which one of you was it?" I growled, eyeing them up and down. Liebgott and Gaurnere pointed to Luz, who quickly pointed at Gaurnere. I rolled my eyes and slapped him upside the head.

"Next time, maybe you want to not act like the Germans are launching an attack on us." I muttered, grabbing a sleepy Joe by the arm and pulling him out the door with the rest of the company.

"Eh, you looked too damn comfy, all cuddled up to Joe like that. You sweet on him or somethin'?" Luz smiled innocently, batting his eyelashes overdramatically. My eyebrow rose.

"Yeah, you got me all figured out. The exhaustion was just an excuse to get in bed with Toye." I said sarcastically, "Just like that time you fell asleep cuddled up to Penkala." Luz let out a nervous laugh.

"Awh, I was just kidding with ya, Gracie, no need to take it personally." He said, nudging me with his shoulder. I smiled and nudged back, then turned to Toye.

"And you-do _not_ get used to that." I warned, looking at him sternly. He let out a yawn and laid an arm over my shoulder.

"Well, hey, think of it this way-it's practice for the foxholes!" He joked, earning a slap in the shoulder.

My eyes traveled up to the moon, and I let out a sigh. I was honestly sick of marching. We were the only fucking company that had to train this hard, and it was draining all of my strength. Sobel had decided to turn himself into my personal devil, and I don't know what stopped me from simply shooting him. We ran Currahee three or four times a week and when we weren't doing calisthenics, we were learning close order drill and the basics of soldiering. The only thing that was holding the company together was our sense of pride, determination, and comradeship. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the boys to keep me from ripping Sobel's dick off.

I was diverted from my thoughts when Bull broke the silence that had fallen around the company, "I'ma say somethin'." George glanced up at him skeptically.

"To who?" Bull looked back challengingly, and then turned his head forward again. George and I exchanged a look then rolled our eyes.

"Lieutenant Winters!" He called out. I almost face palmed.

"What is it?"

"Permission to speak, sir."

"Permission granted."

"Sir, we got nine companies, sir. " Bull pointed out. I let out a sigh and he shot me a look, signaling me to be quiet. I pursed my lips and turned my head away.

"That we do." Winters answered, sounding slightly amused.

"Well, how come we're the only company marching every Friday night, twelve miles, full pack, in the pitch dark?"

"Why do you think Private Randleman?" Winters asked, deciding to play along.

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Bull dead-panned, his eyebrows furrowed. My lips curled up in a smile. There was a moment of silence as Winters digested his answer.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Private Randleman…he just hates you." The company erupted in laughter.

"Thank you, sir!" Bull called out, ignoring the grin Luz sent his way.

"He hates you too, Gracie." Perconte joked, nudging me in the side with his elbow. I stuck out my tongue as the men around us nodded their heads in agreement.

"He'll regret that, someday." I muttered, shifting my gun.

Unbeknownst to me, a rather large rock had decided to take shelter on the marching path, waiting for some hapless soldier to trip over it. Quite tragically, that soldier ended up being me. Also quite tragically, that soldier landed smack on her face. The men behind me stumbled over my legs and let out loud curses as they struggled to not lose their balance. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for my life to end beneath the weight of a full-grown man and the 50 extra pounds of their packs. Luckily, they managed to keep their balance, and I sent a thank you prayer up to god.

"Jesus, Gracie! What the hell are ya doing lying on the ground?" Guarnere exclaimed, staring down at me incredulously. I rolled over onto my back to glare up at him.

"Oh, you know, just bathing in the moonlight. I heard it lengthens your lifespan." I said, stretching my arms and legs out.

Before he could say anything back, Eugene jogged up and knelt beside me, hands automatically moving to press into my ankles. I abruptly pulled my legs away and sat up.

"Why, hello to you too, Gene." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Lemme see yoh legs, Gracie. Gotta make sho' there's no sprains." He said, reaching out for my legs again. I sprung up to my feet before he could go all "Doc Roe" on me.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just happened to stumble over a rock. See, look." I said, starting to jog in place to prove my point. Eugene eyed me skeptically, but nodded after a moment of watching me start to hop idiotically around Gaurnere.

"A'right, jus make sho'. You come tah me if yah have any problems." He ordered.

"Yes, sir!" I joked, and then grabbed both of their arms to drag them towards the rest of the company. Liebgott turned around when we caught up and raised his eyebrows at my appearance.

"Shifty told me you tripped and fell on your face, but I didn't believe him. Damn, Gracie, you're lucky Sobel wasn't there. He'd probably kick dirt in your face." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, of course he would. Then he'd probably sit on top of me and make me do 100 push-ups for tripping. Which, by the way, was not my fault. It was that fucking rock's fault." I growled, kicking at the ground.

"Nah, he wouldn't sit on you. Notice that man hasn't come within 5 feet of you, it's like he's intimidated by being close to you. My best bet is that he would order Bull to sit on ya, or something. Ain't that right, Bull?" Luz piped in, digging his elbow into Bull's side. My eyes narrowed.

"Well, even if he did, I'd do it. No problem at all." I gloated, squaring my shoulders. There was a moment of silence, and then the company burst out in laughter. I pursed my lips.

"Yeah, laugh all you want. You won't be laughing when your asses are going to be have to be saved by me. Just imagine, Perconte gets stuck under a tree somewhere, and whos gonna be there? Me! I'll lift that tree up like it's a…a…blueberry, and Perconte can go on living his wonderful life."

"A blueberry?" Shifty asked, turning around to look at me with amusement.

"It's just a figure of speech, Shifty. But that's not the point."

"And just exactly what would that point be, then, Miss Morris?" Malarkey asked.

"The point is, is that you shouldn't doubt me. I'm full of surprises." I concluded. A few of the men exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. I let out a huff of breath and sped up to walk beside Winters. I glanced curiously up at him.

"You believe me, right, sir?" I questioned, voice hopeful. He chuckled and tapped my helmet with the tip of his gun.

"Yeah, Gracie. You are definitely full of surprises." He said, a hint of an undertone in his voice.

I decided to ignore it and instead grinned, feeling quite successful…until I saw Sobel awaiting us in front of our barracks. We quickly fell into formation and waited for his yelling to begin.

"Lieutenant Winters, I want canteens out of belts with the caps unscrewed!" Sobel ordered, his usual _I'm pissed for no reason whatsoever so I'm gonna take it out on Easy Company_ look on his face.

"Easy Company, canteens out and open." We quickly began to pull out our canteens, hoping he wasn't thinking of doing what we thought he was going to do.

"On my command, they will pour the contents onto the ground." Sobel continued, pacing back in forth in front of us. My face dropped, and I screwed my teeth together. Of fucking course. We can never catch a goddamn break.

"On the CO's orders you will upend the canteens."

"Now, Lieutenant!" Sobel yelled.

"Pour them!"

At the same time, the company began to pour the water from the canteens. I swallowed loudly as I watched the water seep into the dirt beneath my boots. After a few moments, I looked away. My tongue felt like a brick in my mouth, and watching precious water go to waste was not helping. Sobel started walking forward; examining each of the men to make sure we hadn't taken a drink from our canteens. He abruptly stopped and began marching towards Christenson, eyebrows knit closely together. I kept my head forward and bit my lip, hoping for the best for the poor soldier.

"Who is this?" Sobel barked, seeking out his nametag. "Christenson! Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen, didn't you?"

"Sir, I was-"

"Lieutenant Winters!" Sobel cried, cutting off whatever excuse Christenson was going to scrape up. Winters stepped forward automatically.

"Yes, sir."

"Was this man ordered to not drink from his canteen during the Friday night march?"

"He was, sir."

"Private Christenson, you have disobeyed a direct order. You will fill your canteen and re_peat _all of the twelve miles of the march immediately." Sobel snapped, glaring into the soldier's eyes. Christenson's jaw tightened.

"Yes, sir."

"_Fall out!"_

Christenson spun on his heel and headed out to march. I sent him a sympathetic glance, and he smiled softly for a moment. Sobel marched back to the front of the company and motioned for Winters to stand beside him with one finger. I almost let out a groan. This man never let up.

"What in the name of _god_ are you doing with my company? You're late and you allow troopers to disobey direct orders?" Sobel hissed, trying to keep his voice low. We held our breaths, listening in to what Sobel had to say.

"No excuse, sir." Winters answered, staring straight forward.

I let out a soft growl. This was not Winters fault. He shouldn't be getting Sobel's bullshit. Liebgott shot me a look, trying to silence me. I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to the two men faced off in front of us.

"You're making me look bad, Lieutenant. This is not _Dog_ company, this is not _Fox _company, this, _this_ is _Easy_ company and under my command this will be the first _and_ finest company in this regiment." Sobel said.

His voice lowered to a murmur, preventing us from hearing the rest of what he said to Winters. Our Lieutenant looked troubled, though, and I glanced at Eugene with worry. Sobel stalked away after a moment and Winters diverted his attention to us.

"All right, Easy Company! Get to your barracks!" He ordered, watching as we broke formation and shuffled away.

I promptly collapsed onto my bed and threw an arm over my eyes, "Somebody help me take off my boots!" I called out, lifting my feet into the air.

The only answer I got was the _thump_ of bodies hitting beds. I lifted myself onto my forearms and glared around at the men. A few of them were already stripped down and passed out. I turned my attention to those who were awake.

"Ignoring me won't work. I'll die a tragic death if somebody doesn't help me." I stated, pursing my lips. Liebgott turned his head to roll his eyes at me.

"Fuck that, even if I tried getting up, I'd just collapse on the floor." He mumbled, peeling off his jacket and throwing it on the ground beside him. I frowned and looked across at Gaurnere.

"Bill?" I asked, batting my eyelashes.

He quickly looked away and threw his sheets over his head. I let out a huff of breath and rolled over to the side, locking eyes with Eugene. He looked like a trapped deer and I fought the smile that was threatening to break out on my face.

"Gene, my ankles are starting to hurt. Think maybe you could have a look?" I said, trying to sound innocent. He sighed and heaved himself off his bed to kneel beside me.

"Yeah, sho', Gracie." He complied, gently unlacing my boots and pulling them off. His pale fingers wound around my ankles and began to press down lightly. His eyes lifted to roam my face for any signs of pain. I smiled down at him and pulled my legs away after a few moments.

"Thanks, Gene." I said. He stood up and smiled back before returning to his bed.

"Good night, to all of those who are awake!" I called out, wriggling out of my pants and jacket. A few men murmured night before the barracks sunk into silence. I cuddled beneath my covers and drifted off to sleep, praying to god I'd make it through tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N: **ahhhh so sorry for the lateness of this chapter x( I was going to post it over the weekend, but I got sidetracked by communions and tumblr and okay really I have no good excuse here mergh _ I'll upload the fourth chapter next week to make up for it. woohoo. Hope you guys enjoyed this one, though3


	4. 4: Burn me

_It's like your standing over me  
With a match and a bottle of kerosene  
Never knew you'd bloom into a psycho  
Getting ready to set me aflame  
I won't forgive and I won't forget  
You killed the cause of compassion  
You hypocrite you counterfeit  
I'm done with this because I can see what you are_

* * *

**Camp Toccoa; October 1942 **

I swallowed hard as I watched the men jump from a fake airplane door onto the dirt ground in front of them with Sobel continuously screaming his disapproval. Luz nudged me from behind to get my attention. I turned around to face a full-blown smile. It was nearly blinding and my eyebrows pulled downwards. What the hell was there to smile about?

"You'll do fine, Gracie. Just ignore him and remember what you were taught." He said, sensing my nervousness. I sighed and grinned crookedly before faced forward again, realizing it was my turn next. Sobel pressed up behind me, breathing heavily in my ear.

"If you don't get this right, you'll have hell to pay." He said, and then stepped away, "GO, GO, GO!"

Before his words could properly form in my brain, his hand was shoving me forward and I stepped off the platform to land on the dirt ground roughly.

"You just broke both your legs, Private Morris! Report to me directly after this!" Sobel yelled, then turned his attention to the next man. I grit my teeth and lugged myself up, ignoring the slight shock of pain in my left ankle.

The jump was sloppy; it was everything I shouldn't have done. As I trudged to the back of the line, I remembered the feeling of his hand on my back. It wasn't guiding, it wasn't encouraging; no, it was as if he was using all of the strength he could to hurl me into oblivion. My eyes narrowed as I realized what went wrong. It wasn't my own mistake; it was _his_. He had meant for me to fail, had chosen to push me forward unexpectedly to catch me off-guard and hope for the worst. My fists balled together, and I tried to keep my emotions in check. I would deal with this later.

After the practice jumps, I reported to Sobel's barracks just as he had requested. I knocked on the door twice and reminded myself to keep breathing. _Breathe, just breathe._

"Come in!" His voice called, muffled by the thick wooden door. I squared my shoulders before entering the barracks, only to find it void of anyone but him. I mentally sighed. Great, just great. His dark eyes flicked up to mine and sparked with a familiar flame. My eyebrows shot towards each other, and I forced myself to walk forward and snap a salute.

"Reporting as ordered, sir." I said, lowering my hand to stand at attention as he nodded.

"Private Morris, do you realize that not only did you make a fool of yourself today, but a fool of all of Easy Company?" He asked, slowly circling around me. I stared straight ahead at a point on the wall, willing my anger to not reach its boiling point.

"No sir, I was only aware that I made a mistake, as it was my first time putting text to actions." I answered truthfully. Suddenly, Sobel's face was a mere few inches from mine; dark eyes searing holes into my own. I refused to look away and awaited his next volley of words.

"You don't belong here, Private Morris. It's about time you realized this. Easy Company will be the best and the finest in this regiment, and you are the only obstacle we face in achieving that goal. My point was only further proven today by your obvious trouble with accomplishing a task that has been drilled into your head for the past few months. Your excuses are useless in this room, Private." He hissed, gauging my reaction with dark orbs full of fire and resentment. My nails dug into the skin of my palm, and I was only vaguely aware of the fact that blood was starting to drip down onto the floor.

"Sir, regardless of what you think, I _do_ belong here. I've made it through the training, just as every other man has. I was never given a break or unequal treatment. I was _not_the only soldier today to make a mistake, as I'm sure you are aware. I fail to understand why I am being singled out." I said, voice a calm monotone. I would not let him win. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me break.

His hands snapped up to grip at my shoulders, and I found myself being pressed roughly against the door to the barracks. His fingers twisted around my forearms and I flinched as pain shot through my veins. My eyes flashed dangerously, but his fingers only tightened even more.

"I don't want you here. I will _not_give up until you leave this company. I _loathe_ you, _Private_." He spat out, pressing me harder against the wall. I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by a sharp smack to the side of my jaw. My head cracked against the door, and I felt blood drip down the broken skin of my lip.

"If you tell anybody about our little encounter, you will suffer a thousand times worse than you already do. Remember this. You can leave now, Private." He said, backing away slowly. Without thinking, I ripped open the door to the barracks and ran as far from him as I could. _Run, run; I refuse to be battered and bruised. _

When I finally created enough distance between the two of us, I slumped down on the ground next to a broken down jeep. I leaned against the large, dirt-caked tire and released a shuddering breath I did not realize I was holding. _I won't be pushed aside, I will be heard_. I rubbed the heels of my hands against my eyes, willing the tears to disappear. I wouldn't let them fall, I wouldn't cry over that man.

I pulled my hands away and opened them up, examining the damage I had done to my palms. There were numerous cuts from my nails, and some blood was still dripping down onto my wrists and uniform. I looked away, disgusted, and wiped my hands on my pants. Sobel's words whirled around in my mind. _I don't want you here. I loathe you._ A giggle bubbled its way through my throat, but I quickly swallowed it back down. He wanted me gone because he hated me. He wanted me gone because he couldn't stand the sight of me. _No one can touch me, nothing can stop me. _

I closed my eyes and tipped my head to the sky, ignoring the pain pulsing through my arms, through my hands, through my jaw. _I'm unbreakable, it's unmistakable. _

After a few minutes, I slowly stood up, confident I had a reign over my emotions again. With new determination, I began to walk to the mess hall to join the company, to join _my_ company. Sobel could hate me all he wanted, but I was staying. I was going to be a paratrooper, whether he liked it or not. I tongued the cut on my lip and smiled bitterly. No, nothing was going to break me.

I pushed open the door to the mess hall and found an empty table to sit at. A few moments passed before the table began to fill up.

"Gracie, what the hell are ya doin' sittin' alone? Getting sick of us already, eh?" Gaurnere asked, sliding in beside me. _Breathe, just breathe_. I nudged his shoulder with my own and laughed.

"Sick of you guys? Never! How could I possibly ever survive without Easy Company?" I joked. Liebgott claimed the spot next to me, bringing a horde of other men.

"Aye, Gracie! Where ya been?" Luz asked, sliding a trey of food in front of me.

"Where else, idiot? Didn't you hear Sobel chewing her out earlier?" Penkala said, smacking Luz in the head playfully.

The shorter man turned to glare and they engaged in an argument of their own. I smiled softly, and then quickly met the eyes of Eugene. His gaze automatically lowered to my lip, and I flinched involuntarily. _Unbreakable, it's unmistakable. _I briefly grinned at him, and then picked up my fork to stab at the shit they called food on the trey in front of me.

"Yeah, I was with Sobel." I said after a moment, realizing Luz and Penkala had finally stopped bickering and had turned to find out if that's where I had really been.

"Yeah? What'd he have to say?" Tab asked curiously from a little ways down the table.

"Oh, you know. The regular bullshit. Private Morris, you are a disgrace to the company, and it's about time you realized you don't belong. Like usual, he didn't give a two shits about what I had to say, and after he chewed me out, I left." I explained, stuffing a forkful of glob into my mouth. I winched slightly at the taste, but swallowed after a moment, figuring it was better to have something in my stomach rather than nothing.

"Awh, that guys an ass, Gracie. Don't listen to nothin' that skinny bastard has to say, yah hear?" Guarnere said. I turned to him with a smile on my face and was about to say something along the lines of thank you when his face dropped. My smile slowly faded away and those around us quieted down at the look on his face.

"What? What is it Bill?" I asked, worry tightening my chest. His hand shot out to gently grip my chin and I jerked away, startled.

"Look at me, Gracie." He ordered. I looked down at my plate, then at the ceiling, and finally landed my eyes on his. He raised his hand again and brushed his thumb over the cut on my lip and I forced myself to stay still.

"What happened?" He asked softly, eyes tracing over the rest of my face. _I know it hurts, I know your bruised, but it's only on the inside._

"What, this? It's nothing really. Must have gotten it when I jumped earlier." I said, trying to brush his concern away. His fingers tightened around my face and my eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't lie. I know you didn't get this from the jump. _He_ did this to you, didn't he?" He said, voice low and dangerous. I quickly pulled my face from his hand and stood up. _It's only on the inside._

"I'm fine, Bill. What happens to me is none of your fucking business." I snapped, turning on my heel and rushing out of the mess hall.

Once I made it outside, I abruptly stopped and sunk into a crouch. What was I doing? This wasn't like me. I angrily shook my head and stood back up, prepared to storm back inside. I couldn't act like this around the men. I couldn't act like such a _woman_.

Before I could will my feet to move, the men from my table burst out of the hall, looking prepared to wage a war. Liebgott was the first to notice I was standing in the middle of the road. He came to a halt in front of me and grabbed my shoulders firmly. I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the pain that washed through my veins.

"Gracie. Did Sobel hit you?" He asked quietly, searching my eyes with his own.

My mouth opened, and then closed. My eyes darted around, seeking out each face that had gathered around us. What was I supposed to say? _If you tell anybody about our little encounter, you will suffer a thousand times worse than you already do. Remember this._ Liebgott's grip tightened, and my attention was brought back to his worried face.

"Please, Gracie, answer me." He said. I let out a sigh and shook my head.

"Can we go back to the barracks? Please?" I asked, deflating a little bit. Without a word, the group shuffled into our barracks and re-gathered around me next to my bed. I plopped down and pressed my palms into my thighs, trying to figure a way out of this.

"So?" Luz said, breaking the silence that had fallen upon us.

I bit my lip, knowing that my stalling wasn't going to work any longer. I had no excuse. They could read me like an open book, just as I could read them. They weren't going to give up. But, if there was one thing they could do, they could keep a secret. I finally looked up and let my eyes trail over their faces.

"He did hit me, bu-"

"Son of a _bitch!_" The men echoed each other, cutting me off. I quickly stood up and blocked the way to the door.

"Just _listen_ to me for a second!" I cried, planting my feet firmly on the ground. Shifty stood directly in front of me, face grave.

"Move, Gracie." He ordered, leaving no room for argument. My eyes narrowed and I glared at the men gathered in front of me.

"I. Said. Listen. To. Me." I said, trying to straighten myself up to my full height. The men quieted down at the venomous tone in my voice and I pressed myself against the door. "You cannot tell anybody Sobel hit me." Complete chaos reigned as the men started shouting all at once.

"_Shut up!" _I screamed over them, successfully managing to shut them up again.

"Give us one good reason why we shouldn't tell Sink right now what that dirty bastard did to you." Toye called out from somewhere in the back.

"If you guys tell Sink what Sobel did, I'll be sent back to New York, no questions asked. If word gets out that a soldier, an officer nonetheless, harmed a woman, I'd have no choice but to leave. It wouldn't look good for the army and the media would never let it die down. Sobel wants me gone. The man hates me. But I'm not going anywhere, I'm not letting him fucking win. He can hit me all he wants, but he needs to learn that he can't win against me emotionally or physically. I know you guys are angry…but please, _please_, for me, you've got to stay quiet about it. I need you guys on my side. I need to stay here, so please just do this one thing for me." I begged, allowing tears to well up in my eyes.

I slumped back against the door, suddenly very exhausted, and watched with hooded eyes as the men slowly eased backwards. Shifty twirled around and grabbed Guarnere by the collar.

"What the fuck? You're just going to back down and let Sobel abuse her? What the hell is wrong with all of you?" He exclaimed, body rigid and ready to spring. Gaurnere glared back at the furious man, but made no move to start a fight.

"What are we supposed to do? We can't tell any of the officers and we can't do anything to Sobel, otherwise she's gone. Is that what you want? You want her to go home after everything she's done? Not only for us, but also for herself? She's worked harder than any of us to achieve a goal she's set for herself. Look at her and tell me she's not a woman determined to win. If anybody can get through this, it will be her. All we can do is watch her and make sure that scum doesn't touch her again. That's all." He said, glancing up to lock eyes with me. Shifty let him go after a few moments, then turned back to me.

"Shifty…" I said slowly, watching as he took a few steps toward me.

At the sound of his name, he closed the distance between us and gathered me into a hug. I automatically stiffened, but eventually wrapped my arms around his shoulders when I realized he was shaking.

"Dammit, Gracie. Dammit." He muttered, stroking my hair. I gently pushed him away and gripped his face in between my hands.

"Listen, I want to shove my boot up his ass just as much as you do, but I promise you I'm okay, and I promise you that I will continue to be okay, as long as you guys stick with me. It took me awhile to accept, but I can't get through this alone. I owe you guys so much, and I know this is hard, but just believe in me." I said quietly, trying to make him understand. Trying to make him see I could get through it.

"All right…if that's what you want, Gracie." He finally conceded, smiling softly at me. I grinned and patted him on the cheek before moving around him to get to my bed.

"Good. Thank you." I said, allowing myself to fall onto the uncomfortable mattress.

I shut my eyes and listened to the sound of the men shuffling around to their own bunks. I suddenly jerked in shock as I felt a cold hand stroke the side of my face. I opened my eyes to come face to face with Eugene. I scrambled up the bed, pressing myself against the headboard.

"Um, hi there, Gene." I said with a nervous smile, wondering why the Cajun man was suddenly kneeling beside my bed. He didn't smile back and followed my retreat up the bed with a serious face.

"Let me see yoh face, Gracie." He said quietly, reaching out a hand. I pressed myself further against the headboard and shook my head quickly.

"There's nothing to see, just a small cut. I'll be fine." I said.

He stood up from his crouched position and grabbed the sides of my face with his hands. I let out a little squeak at his sudden movement, but stayed stock still as he gently thumbed the cut on my lip. I swallowed back the tiny shock of pain at the unexpected touch and waited until he had thoroughly examined it.

"Eugene." I mumbled after a few moments, catching his attention. "I'm not gonna die or anything."

"I jus' wanted to make sho' you were okay." He said, watching me with his calm, brown eyes. My lips turned up in a smile and I laid my hands over his.

"Thank you, Gene. I'm okay." After a few moments, a smile etched its way onto his face and he slowly stood up to move back to his own bed.

I glanced across from me and noticed that Tab, Grant, Penkala, Malarkey, and Luz had gathered around Gaurnere's bunk. Narrowing my eyes in suspicion, I slowly sidled up to them, poking my head in between Tab's and Grant's shoulders. The group of men jumped in surprise and I arched my eyebrow.

"What are ya guys doing?" I asked casually, locking my eyes with Grant. If anybody couldn't keep his mouth shut, it was him. His eyes frantically caught Gaurnere's and I knew I had him trapped. I wrapped my arm around his wrist and squeezed hard.

"Grant?" I repeated, giving him a firm look.

"I, uh, um. We were just, um…" He trailed off, looking to Gaurnere for help. I let out a sigh and turned to the apparent leader of all of this.

"Well?" I said, tapping my foot. He glared at Grant momentarily before giving me his full attention.

"I figured if we were gonna be protecting you and everything from now on, we might as well come up with a plan." At the look on my face he quickly continued, "Not anything big, just trying to make sure one of us is always with you." I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the bed, crossing my legs underneath me.

"I don't need any of you standing over my shoulder at all times. I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but, for the umpteenth time, I'll be fine." I said, exasperated. These guys are so much different than the ones on the streets. Out there, it was every man and woman for themselves. Even Antonio let me fight my own battles if he knew my whole heart was in it. Malarkey and Luz took a seat next to me, and I almost laughed at the comic image of three grown men squeezed onto one bed.

"You keep saying you'll be fine. You've been saying that for these past few months, but look at you. As much as we hate to say this, you're not fine, Gracie." Malarkey said quietly, focusing his brown eyes on my own. My jaw tightened and I tried to keep calm.

"What do you mean I'm not fine? I'm still here, aren't I?" I said bitterly. Malarkey and Luz exchanged a look and I held back a growl of frustration.

"Sobel has pushed you harder than any of us…we all know this. Yeah, you're still here, and yeah, you managed to get through it all, but that doesn't mean you haven't had any pain. Sometimes, it's better to just admit when you're hurting. You know we're always here for you…" He said slowly, watching my reaction carefully. I mentally recoiled and quickly avoided his gaze. _You told me you're fine, you're better off alone_.

"I'm okay. Just trust me." I said, standing up to head back to my own bed.

Luz caught my wrist in his hand and turned me around to face him. His soft brown eyes weren't crinkled at the corners and I felt an ache in my heart. I softly smiled and leaned forward to run my hand through his hair.

"Come on, I wasn't raised on the streets of New York for nothing. I learned a lot out there, you know. I've had men twice the size of Sobel give me a beating, I've had knives held to my throat. If there's one thing I am, it's strong. My papa taught me how to love, my mama taught me how to be gentle, and New York taught me how to have heart." I said gently, removing my hand from his soft tresses and squeezing Marlarkey and Tab on their soldiers.

Gaurnere's lips rose in a smile, and I knew I had won them over. I turned away and returned to my bed, sliding quickly underneath the covers. In moments, my eyes had drifted closed and I passed out.

"Holy shit, take a look at that, Gracie." Gaurnere whistled from in front of me. I grabbed a trey and glanced up, following Gaurnere's gaze. Lt Winters was in the middle of the kitchen, eyeing the cooks who were bustling around in puffy hats trying to prepare noodles for the men. I jabbed my elbow into Shifty's ribs, catching his attention as well.

"Mess duty?" I whispered, shuffling forward to have one of the cooks drop a slop of spaghetti onto my plate with something that looked vaguely like red sauce.

"Guess so." Shifty murmured, staring down suspiciously at the food on his plate.

Winters caught my eye and I sent him a small smile. His eyes softened and I sent a silent curse to Sobel, because what other asshole would assign Winters to mess duty? I followed Gaurnere back to our table with a sigh and seated myself between Grant and Liebgott.

"It's okay, it's good." Liebgott said over a forkful of food. I glanced at it distastefully, somehow doubting his opinion. Next to me, Grant dug into his food like it was going to hop off the plate and make a run for it.

"Dis ain't spaghetti, dis is army noodles with ketchup." I heard Perconte announce from somewhere down the table. I stabbed my fork into the mushy noodles, silently agreeing.

"Gracie, are you gonna eat that or just glare at it?" Shifty asked, eyeing up my food. I bit my lip in thought.

"I think I'll just glare at it for now, thanks for asking." I quipped.

A hand reached out from behind me to grab my plate. I slapped it away and turned around to see Malarkey, face covered in sauce. I burst into laughter and grabbed my plate to give to him.

"God, Marlark, what are you doing? Making sweet love to the spaghetti?" I joked, watching as he greedily began to pile forkfuls of my noodles into his mouth. His eyes shifted up to glare at me and I stifled my laughter. I reached back to steal Liebgott's napkins, who was too engrossed in his own spaghetti to notice.

"C'mere for a sec." I said, leaning forward and capturing the redhead's chin in my hand.

He frowned, deeply bothered by the fact that he had been separated from his spaghetti. I raised my other hand and dabbed the sauce off of his face, then let go when I was satisfied. A blush the color of his hair set fire over his cheeks and I bit my lip to hold in my laughter. Men were so predictable.

Before he could indulge himself in the spaghetti to cover up his embarrassment, the doors to the mess hall burst open, revealing the devil himself. I let out a groan of annoyance as a loud whistle pierced the air, capturing the attention of the men.

"Orders changed, get up!" Sobel shouted, pacing forward as we all jumped up from our seats.

"Easy Company is running Currahee! Move, _move!_ Three miles up, three miles down! _Hi-ho Siiiiiilver!_" He announced, watching as we rushed out of the mess hall to change into our PT uniforms.

I quickly tore off my uniform and pulled on the blue shorts that I detested oh so very much. The men were deadly silent around me as we jogged the path to Currahee.

"I can't believe this douchebag." I muttered to Eugene. He pursed his lips in response, face pale and angry.

Halfway up the mountain, men were vomiting left and right. A few had collapsed and had to be carried away on a stretcher. Those who dropped were never going to come back, and I couldn't help but feel a fierce rage build up in my stomach at the thought. It wasn't fair to them-not after how far they had come, how hard they had worked. This was a dirty, rotten trick and Sobel deserved to have his limbs ripped off.

Somewhere in front of me, Hoobler hacked up the food he had previously eaten, but managed to stay on his feet. Sobel rushed up to him, face contorted in an ugly scowl.

"You're a washout, Private Hoobler! You should pack up those ears and go home!" He shouted, running past to Smokey when he noticed the man was also vomiting. I grit my teeth in anger and ran up beside Hoobler, rubbing his back as he angrily wiped his arm across his mouth.

"I fucking hate him." He hissed, wincing at the taste in his mouth. My lips pulled down in a frown and I watched as the skinny bastard harassed Smokey.

"Looks like Gordon's done! Aren't you, Gordon? You finished? You do not deserve to get your wings!" He yelled over Smokey's hacking.

My chest constricted and I wanted nothing more than to shove a knife in the man's mouth just to shut him up. I gave Hoobler one last pat on the back and then ran up beside Smokey, holding him up by his arms as he released the rest of his stomach's contents.

"Shh, it's all right. You'll get through this, just keep moving your legs. That's right, keep going. You can do it." I encouraged, pulling him forward. In the distance, I could hear Sobel begin to rip into Bull. I wrapped my arm around Smokey's ribs and navigated us through the men. Luz turned around to catch my eye, and I gave him a quick nod. A moment after he began singing.

"We fall upon the risers, we fall upon the grass, we never land upon our feet, we always hit our ass! Hidey, Hidey, Christ almighty, who the hell are we? Zim-Zam, Goddamn, we're the airborne infantry!" The rest of the company joined in soon after, and I internally cheered at the priceless look on Sobel's face. I sent Luz a grateful look before joining in on the chorus.

_We fall upon the risers_

_We fall upon the grass_

_We never land upon our feet_

_We always hit our ass_

_Hidey, hidey, Christ almighty_

_Who the hell are we?_

_Zim-zam, goddamn _

_We're the airborne infantry!_

* * *

**A/N: **oh god im literally the worst, this was supposed to be posted much, MUCH earlier, but i got wrapped up in college and depression again sooo. I recently just moved back home for the summer and I finally remembered that I never posted a new chapter earlier like I said I would. Herpp. Anyways, thanks for the reviews thus far, guys! I appreciate the compliments as well as the critique :) Just really hoping I can keep up with this because my muse changes literally week to week and writer's block is a very real, stressful thing x) Anywho, hope you guys enjoy this one as well. Have a wonderful weekend!


	5. 5: Marching On

_We'll have the days we break,_

_And we'll have the scars to prove it,_

_We'll have the bonds that we save,_

_But we'll have the heart not to lose it._

* * *

**Camp Toccoa; November 26, 1942 **

"Webster! Would you get your ass over here?" I whispered harshly, pressed down low to the ground.

His blue-grey eyes captured my own over the foxhole I was currently residing in. He was hiding behind a fallen tree and had somehow managed to separate himself from the rest of the company. Next to me, Luz let out a frustrated groan.

"Would you hurry up? Sobel's gonna be here any second!" I urged, glancing around for the man.

"Awh, just leave him there, he ain't gonna do us no good." Luz said, clutching his gun tightly and searching the forest for the enemy we were supposed to attack. I gave him a sharp glare and hefted myself up after staring at Webster's startled face for a few moments.

"Gracie! Gracie! What the hell are you doing? Get down!" Lipton hissed, voice echoing against the rest of the men's. I gritted my teeth and crawled over to the tree Webster was behind. His eyes widened when I planted myself down beside him and I almost laughed. Almost.

"What the fuck are you doing just sitting here? We have to get back to position so we can finish this dumb ass field exercise and head back to camp." I said, grabbing his arm and pushing him out from the cover of the tree.

He immediately hit the ground on his stomach and I landed next to him, pulling him forward. Once we reached the hole, Guarnere let out a low, impressed whistle from one of the foxholes positioned near us. I shook my head and hunkered down out of view just as Sobel came crouch running up. He gave a quick hand signal, and automatically the company was standing up from their positions to advance into the thick foliage of the forest. I stayed close to Webster, making sure he didn't somehow fall into a hole or off a damn cliff. For a Harvard boy, he sure wasn't all that bright.

"Gracie." Liebgott hissed from somewhere in front of me.

I grabbed Webster and shoved him behind the cover of a rock and crouched beside him, gun poised. We held our breath as we waited to attack. After a few minutes passed, we heard the telltale sound of boots crunching against twigs and leaves. As the "enemy" soldiers entered our vision, we jumped from our cover and pinned them down. The men held up their hands in mock surrender and I let out a grin. We could finally begin heading back to the camp.

After the other company of soldiers had headed off in the opposite direction, Sobel announced that we would be spending the night in the foxholes we had spent nearly all day digging. I sighed wearily and slung my gun over my shoulder, starting the short walk back to the hole. By the time I reached it, Luz was already perched on the edge, lighting up a cigarette. I peeked over his shoulder and noticed a pack of soldiers had squished themselves inside the hole. I raised an eyebrow and crouched next to Luz.

"You guys are having a party in _my_ foxhole without even telling me? I'm wounded." I said, placing a hand over my heart for exaggeration.

"Nah, we were just warming the place up for ya!" Muck called from the group of men. My other eyebrow shot up.

"If you are expecting me to pack in there with you boys, I hope you are prepared to face utter disappointment." I said, sliding away from Luz as his cigarette smoke drifted over to me.

He frowned shortly before closing the distance between us. I abruptly stood up and moved around to the other side of the foxhole, smiling in victory. His eyes narrowed and he stood up to follow.

"Luz, did you ever think there might be a reason as to_ why_ I'm moving away from you?" I asked, sending him a sideways glance as he plopped himself next to me.

"Nope, and if you do have a reason, I don't give a fuck." He answered, taking a long drag from his cigarette. I let out a huff of annoyance as some of the men chuckled at his response.

"All right, you guys have no room to laugh. It looks like you're trying to have some massive orgy together in one foxhole." I said bitterly. A few of the men quickly scrambled from the foxhole at my observation and I stifled a laugh.

Winters came sidling up and raised his eyebrows at the scene we had created. Automatically, his eyes met mine and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Don't look at me, sir. I didn't send out the invitations." His lips raised in a smile before he moved down the line to check on the other foxholes.

"Guess he's not much of a partier." Guarnere muttered, stretching his feet out over Toye's lap. I ran a hand back through my hair and stood up again, sending Luz a warning look.

"If you haven't figured it out by now, I don't like cigarettes, so if you wouldn't mind, please keep your distance." I said before walking off in the direction Winters had gone.

"Awh, where ya goin, Gracie? The party just started!" Penkala called, kicking at Tab's head.

I shook my head at the tangled group of men before seeking out another foxhole. My face split into a grin when I recognized Eugene's profile hunkered in one of the many foxholes. I threw myself beside him, laughing as he jumped in surprise.

"Hey, Gene. How's it going?" I asked, setting my gun in between my legs. His brow rose before his eyes glued back onto something in the distance.

"Fine. Aren't yah supposed tah be wid Luz?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, well, Luz is smoking and god knows how much I can't stand cigarettes, and the rest of the men decided to take over my foxhole." I grumbled, shifting slightly to make myself more comfortable. His lips quirked up and I nudged him with my elbow. "It's not funny. I worked hard on that foxhole."

"I'm sho' yah did, Gracie." He agreed, eyes soft. I grinned, satisfied with his answer.

"Well, wake me up when it's dinner time. I barely got any sleep last night. Fucking Malarkey thought it'd be a great idea to play cards all night as a pre-thanksgiving celebration. Not only did I fail miserably, but I wasted a good night's sleep." I said, grimacing as I recalled the events of the previous night. Eugene simply nodded, adding no comment for which I was grateful. I pulled my knees to my chest and leaned my head forward into my arms, automatically falling asleep.

**Third Person POV**

Luz silently signaled to the men behind him and moved forward slowly, hidden by the darkness and foliage. He dropped to his stomach when his target was in view and he held up a fist, listening as the other men dropped down. Up ahead, he could spot two figures hunched in a foxhole. He slowly crawled forward, squinting his eyes to make sure that both of them were asleep. When he was certain they were, he nodded at Gaurnere and Malarkey. The two men sent each other silent grins before circling around to the other side of the foxhole and hunkering down. Shortly after, Shifty and Liebgott moved to the left side of the foxhole, and Penkala and Muck moved to the right side. The rest of the men spread out a little ways back, tiny grins pulling at their faces.

"Go." Luz whispered, moving forward.

"Gracie! Roe! Get up! Let's move, move, _move! _We're under attack! Quick! What the fuck are you doing? Let's go!" Luz shouted, impersonating Sobel.

The two soldiers jerked awake and quickly began scrambling over each other to try and get out of the hole. Gaurnere grabbed at them in panic, trying to help them out while Malarkey and a few of the other men continued to shout out urgently.

"What the fuck, what the _fuck!_" Gracie cursed, shouldering Roe out of the foxhole. The quiet man offered her a hand, but she ignored it and leapt out of the hole, face horror-stricken.

"Come on, we gotta go _now!_ I think Lieb's hit!" Gaurnere said, running off in the direction of Liebgott and Martin.

"Fuck! What the fuck!" Gracie repeated, tripping over her feet. Shifty leapt out of the darkness and landed on top of her, successfully pinning her down. Muck grabbed Eugene from behind and pushed him to the ground.

"Get the fuck off of me you fucking dirty piece of shit!" The small woman shouted, kicking her legs to try and shake off her captor. "Gene! Gene! Goddammit, Gene, run!" She called, twisting around violently.

Liebgott emerged from the forest to help Shifty hold her down, noticing the man was having a hard time keeping his grip on her. She managed to squeeze from Shifty's grip and flew at Liebgott, eyes blazing. When she landed on top of him, Luz ran over, mouth curved into a grin.

"Luz? What the hell are you doing just standing there? We're under attack!" She exclaimed, struggling to keep Liebgott down.

"Gracie, that's Liebgott you're sitting on top of." Luz pointed out, trying to stifle his laughter.

Her eyebrows crinkled before she glanced down to realize that she was, indeed, sitting atop Liebgott. She leapt off of him and whipped her head around to Eugene. He was no longer struggling against a captor, and was instead standing, dumbfounded, surrounded by fellow soldiers. Gracie swiveled her head around, eyes wide and jaw hanging open. Luz looped an arm around her shoulder, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Gotchya." He said, jumping away as the Argentinean woman pounced at him.

"I am going to kill you all! What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" She screamed, chasing after the grinning man.

The rest of the company watched with amused smiles, feeling triumphant over tricking the short-tempered woman. She finally managed to drag Luz to the ground and sat on top of him, eyes raging.

"What. The. Fuck. Was. That?" She ground out, shoving his chest. He choked back his laughter and caught her fists in his.

"I'm sorry, we were just bored, we thought it'd be funny. Come on, take a joke, Gracie." He said, struggling against the smaller woman.

He loved to get on her nerves, it was always a riot to watch her get all worked up. Although he always paid the consequences, George lived to get these reactions out of her.

"I thought Liebgott was gonna die! Shit, I thought _we_ were gonna die! I can't believe you guys. Complete idiots." She cried, shaking her head as Gaurnere hauled her off of Luz.

The men had never seen her so riled up and to them it only showed how much she cared. From the very beginning, she had given them her all. She threw herself into dangerous situations just to try to help one of them out and was constantly looking out for them. It didn't take long for the men to grow to love her. She was so important to all of them, she was the reason they could keep going through all of Sobel's bullshit. She meant so much to the men, and each and every one of them knew they'd take bullets for her, knew they'd do anything to keep her safe and alive. She was tough, and she might not want to accept their help, but hell, they would fight for her.

"Gracie, did it ever occur to you that we aren't in Germany?" Malarkey pointed out, watching as she struggled in Guarnere's arms. There was a moment of silence as she digested this information. Her mouth closed and her body went limp against the arms that encaged her.

"Not…in…" A sudden rush of laughter escaped her lips, and soon she was rolling on the ground holding her stomach. "Oh my god! I'm so _stupid!_"

The men grinned and Liebgott leaned down to rub her head. She grabbed his hand and pulled him down with her, smirking at his shocked look.

"I still can't believe you would do that to me. I swear to god I'll get you all back one of these days." She threatened, pushing herself up off the ground. A grumble suddenly erupted from her stomach and she glanced around at the men nonchalantly. "So…what's for dinner?"

"Uh…stew." Perconte answered, biting back a grin.

Gracie frowned momentarily before shrugging and heading off towards where Joe Domingus was stationed. Webster helped Liebgott up before the group of men followed after the small woman, fond smiles pulling up at their lips.

**Thanksgiving; Gracie's POV**

I crawled forward on my stomach, grimacing as I neared a ditch full of the innards of some kind of animal.

"Jesus, what the hell is this?"

"Dat's pig guts, boy." Bull answered, voice strained as he tried to keep low and out of the way of the barbed wire and bullets shooting above him.

I briefly closed my eyes before rolling into the ditch, knocking into the limbs of other men and covering myself in the blood of the poor, slaughtered animals. Happy fucking Thanksgiving to you too, Major Strayer.

I lowered my head as a bullet whizzed dangerously close and I let out a curse. Not only were they trying to kill us, but they were also trying to kill us while we crawled through the guts of fucking pigs. Next to me, Albert Blithe began to retch and I nudged him with my elbow.

"Look straight ahead. Don't pay attention to it. Move quick, go ahead." I said, staying close behind him in order to hold his focus.

I pushed him ahead of me out of the ditch and then quickly clawed my way out; trying to ignore the way bits of intestines worked their way underneath my nails. I pushed myself up off the ground and sprinted for the tunnels, throwing myself into the small, wooden space and foreword rolled out. When we reached the wooden wall, every man managed to scramble his way up. After so much training, we had very nearly perfected the obstacle course. As I landed feet-first on the other side of the wall, I sent a prayer of thanks to God that we had improved. I was too damn exhausted to help anybody out at this point in training.

A few moments passed before the whole company was standing in position before Winters and Sobel with our uniforms covered in dirt, blood, and pieces of innards. Sobel paced back and forth in front of us, dark eyes sizing us up like pieces of meat. I clenched my jaw and stared straight ahead, waiting for his criticism. When nothing was said, I glanced towards Winters and found him standing alone. Liebgott nudged me with his elbow and I turned my head around, catching a glimpse of Sobel's body disappearing behind one of the barracks. Liebgott and I exchanged a brief look before returning our attention to Winters.

"All right, good job Easy Company. That's it for today, you can go." He said, calm, blue eyes traveling over our dirty bodies as we passed by him to get cleaned up. I stopped in front of him and snapped a salute.

"At ease, Gracie. Is there something wrong?" He asked, concern etching out lines on his face.

"No, Sir. I was just wondering if there was a problem with Lt. Sobel, sir." I said, biting my lip.

It was _very_ unusual for the dark-haired man to simply leave without at least insulting one man. Winters eyebrows crinkled in thought and he gazed off in the direction Sobel had gone.

"I'm not sure. If there is anything wrong, he hasn't told Nix or me. That was strange of him to leave…but I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, Gracie. And do me a favor."

"Yes, sir?" I questioned, peering up at him curiously. He smiled down at me before laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Make that two favors-First, call me Dick when there's no other officers around, and second, please, go get a shower." He said, playfully pushing me towards my barracks.

"Okay. Will do, Dick. I'll see you later." I laughed, heading off to get a shower.

Later that night, I ran into Sobel, quite literally, on the way back to the barracks. I stumbled back, catching my balance before I landed on my ass. Sobel straightened himself up and turned his dark eyes on me. I flinched back as I realized exactly whom it was that was standing in front of me.

"Private Morris. Watch where you're going." He said, taking a step closer to me. I forced myself to hold my ground as he entered my personal space, an angry scowl on his face.

"I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't paying attention, I will make sure to keep an eye out from now on." I said quickly, trying to appease him.

His hand snaked out to grip my upper arm and I wrenched away from him, a frown marring my face. A smirk lit up his features and I wanted oh so very badly to punch his smug face. "That's not good enough, _private_. I take it you've kept our little secret safe?" He hissed, following my backwards retreat until I was pressed up against the side of one of the buildings. I grit my teeth together as I nodded my head. His smirk widened into a satisfactory smile and I wished he never had a reason to ever smile again.

"Good girl. Have you been thinking about what I said?" I bit down on my tongue to hold back an insult. Good girl? He had to be fucking kidding me.

"No, sir." I answered truthfully, smirking inwardly at his look of outrage. The man must be out of his mind to think I'd ever take his words seriously.

"Maybe I should help you change your mind and re-think those words." He breathed, suddenly pressing his body up against mine.

My heart nearly stopped beating as his hands lowered to grip at my hips. His blunt nails dug into the skin, very nearly breaking it. Gathering my senses, I pushed back against him, only to have his fist connect with my jaw.

"Sto-mmhh!" My words were cut off as he covered my mouth with his hand. My blood boiled beneath my skin as his dark eyes silently mocked me.

"You are so weak, Gracie. You are not a man. If only you had realized this sooner." He whispered, forcing his leg between my thighs.

When his mouth lowered to latch onto my neck, something inside of me snapped. I viciously bit down on his hand and whipped my knee up, hitting him in the groin. He stumbled back with a groan and I shoved him roughly, knocking him to the ground. His hand lashed out to grab my ankle when I made a run for it, and I fell roughly to the earth. On instinct, I rolled away from him, only for him to follow and pin me beneath his body. I bucked up hoping to knock him off of me, but he was already braced and elbowed me in the stomach, hard. I gagged slightly before his hand was clamped over my mouth again, and his leg took position between my legs once more.

I was trapped; I was trapped beneath the fucking devil himself and I couldn't do one fucking thing. My eyes squeezed shut as his other hand snaked up my jacket, beneath my shirt, and to my rib cage. This was not happening, this could _not_ be happening. My mind whirled in a panic, and I opened my eyes to look for anything, _anything_ that could be beneficial to me. Sobel's hand squeezed over my face, demanding my attention.

"This is what happens to _weak_ women, Private Miller. You can't even protect yourself against a man. How are you supposed to go to war in this shape?" His hand wormed its way into my bra and cupped a breast, gripping it too hard. I hissed lowly, glaring up at the devil dressed in man's skin. "You're worthless. I should have done this in the very beginning. You think you're so strong, but you're actually a pathetic, fragile little thing, aren't you?"

"Gracie? Gracie is that-holy fuck. What the _fuck_ are you doing? Get off of her!" I heard Gaurnere say, before Sobel was knocked off of me.

I quickly scrambled away, knocking into somebody's legs. Large hands clamped underneath my arms and hauled me up. Stricken by the fear that it might be Sobel, I violently pushed away, taking a defensive position.

"Gracie, it's okay. It's Liebgott. Come here, come on." Lieb said quietly, slowly moving forward.

Behind me, I could hear Gaurnere yelling at Sobel. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, trying to control the loud beating of my heart. After a moment, I whirled around and reached for Gaurnere's arm, catching him before he could land a punch on Sobel.

"Bill, stop." I said, pulling him away from my attacker.

"No! This motherfucker had his hand up your shirt. I'm gonna fuck him up. You piece of scum, what the hell do you think you were doing?" He shouted, advancing towards Sobel again.

I glanced back at Liebgott, giving him a pleading look. He looked torn for a second, glancing from me, to Guarnere, to Sobel, and back again. Something in my eyes caused him to make his choice, though, and he finally stepped forward to drag Guarnere away from Sobel.

"C'mon, Bill. We need to get Gracie back to the barracks. C'mon, c'mon, we'll deal with him later. Let's go." He ushered, pulling the shorter man towards me.

I glanced back one last time to see Sobel quietly standing there, rage overflowing from his eyes. There was something lurking in his dark irises that had a bad feeling crawling up my spine. I looked away, hands shaking, and followed Liebgott and Gaurnere to the barracks.

When I opened the door, I noticed there were only a few men in the room-Tab, Shifty, Luz, Roe, and Malarkey. I ignored their calls of greeting and retreated to my bed, where I promptly face-planted onto the mattress. Moments later, the bed shifted, signifying two new additions. A hand hesitantly rested on my head, and I had the sudden urge to cry. I bit my lip and blinked back the tears before rolling over to come face to face with Liebgott and Gaurnere. We simply stared at each other for a few seconds before Liebgott broke the silence.

"Gracie…what happened back there?" He asked, searching my eyes with his own dark, intense ones.

I could tell he was angry-his eyebrows were pulled down and his hands were tightly clenched. He wanted to kill somebody. He wanted to get revenge. I sighed before looking down at my hands, trying to find the right words to explain what had happened. Bill's hand slid forward to grip mine, and I felt the tears begin to well up again.

"He…I ran into him on the way back to the barracks. And, I don't know, he just…just…" I choked over the words and angled my face away, willing myself to keep control.

It was too difficult, though. He had pressed all the right buttons. He had gotten into my head, and it was killing me. I felt dirty, disgusting. I felt like I didn't deserve to be here, because he was right. I wasn't strong-I was just some weak little girl playing the part of a man. There was nothing I could do here. I couldn't protect these men if I couldn't even protect myself.

A tear found it's way down my cheek, and I wanted to scream. It just wasn't fair. I had come so far, so goddamn far, only to be knocked back down again by the man I swore I would overcome. I had done everything right, but in the end it all went to waste.

"Gracie…Gracie, don't cry. Sweetie, it's okay." Bill soothed, rubbing circles on the top of my hand with his thumb. I swallowed roughly, forcing myself to hold back the sobs that were threatening to break through.

"I just…I'm sorry…" I finally whispered, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Sorry? You have no reason to apologize, honey. You did nothing wrong. This isn't your fault…this is that bastard's fault…don't you dare say sorry, Gracie." Liebgott said, lifting his hand to wipe away a stray tear. I jerked my head away at his touch and grit my teeth.

"This is _my _fault. I couldn't…I couldn't stop him. I'm weak…I let you guys down. I don't…I don't _belong_ here. Sobel was right. I should have-" I was abruptly cut off by Gaurnere's hand over my mouth.

My heart jumped as my mind flashed back to the same way Sobel had tried stopping my words. I forced myself to calm down and reminded myself that it was just Bill and he wouldn't hurt me.

"You listen to me right now. This was not your fault. You are _not_ weak, and you do belong here. Ask any of the men in this company whether you do, and you'll believe me. You were born to become a paratrooper, Gracie. You've got the heart to do this, and you've proven it to every man here. Sobel is a damn fool for not seein' how strong you are. It was low and dirty of him to hurt you like that. And so what if you couldn't stop him? You're not all-powerful, honey. Don't beat yourself up over something you couldn't control. So please, please stop crying and smile. Smile because it's what fuels all of us to keep trying. Smile because it's beautiful, and I know you can get through this. We're right here, Gracie. Don't you forget that." Gaurnere said, raising his hands to cup my face between them.

I flung myself into his arms and buried my face into his shoulder, finally letting all of my emotions go. I had been keeping everything bottled up for way too long, and I couldn't keep the lid on anymore. Gaurnere wrapped his arms around my shaking frame and laid his head on top of mine, shielding my face from the worried stares of the other men. I felt the bed shift and then heard Liebgott murmuring to the others in the room.

"Lemme see her. Is she hurt? I gotta check on her." I heard Roe say, his voice a little panicked.

"She's gonna be fine, Eugene. She'll be all right, just leave her be for now." Lieb said calmly.

The room went quiet after awhile, and the only sounds heard were my sobs echoing against the wooden walls. Bill rubbed his hand in circles against my back, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe; I felt like nobody could possibly hurt me. I pressed my face further into his shoulder and angled my head so my ear was against his chest. I concentrated on his heartbeat and listened to the soothing _bathump bathump bathump_. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to rein my emotions back in, trying to release the pain and absorb the comfort. Bill's body felt warm against mine, and I realized it had been a very long since I had been embraced like this. My arms tightened around his neck and I pressed myself closer.

"It's all right, Gracie. I've got ya. Don't cry, sweetie. Don't you cry anymore." Gaurnere whispered when he felt my tears soak through his jacket. I sniffled and pulled away after a moment, cheeks burning.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Bill, I didn't mean to…"

"Shh, don't say sorry. You don't got nothin' to be sorry for, Gracie."

"I just…well, it's just a little embarrassing. Don't…don't mention this to the other guys, okay?" I said uneasily, glancing to Liebgott and the others. The men nodded with small, unsure smiles.

"We won't. It's okay to be weak sometimes. You're always trying too hard to be strong for all of us. If you ever need someone, ol' Gonorrhea is here for ya."

"Thank you. Thank you so much." I smiled up at him and felt something warm pool into my stomach when he grinned back. Startled, I stood up and laid a hand against my chest. What the hell was that?

"You okay Gracie?" He asked, rising from the bed and taking a step towards me in concern. My heart fluttered and I felt my cheeks burn. Oh, this was not good.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just getting cramped up from sitting for so long. The other guys will probably be back soon, anyways." I quickly said.

He nodded in understanding and retreated to his own bed.

I watched him closely, trying to figure out the thoughts flying through my head. I was probably just overreacting from getting too emotional. It was probably nothing. A lot happened tonight, after all. I bit my lip and sat on my bed. It was nothing. Nothing at all.

"Hey, how are ya doing?" A voice said from beside me. Alarmed, I jumped back, only for a pale hand to catch me before I flew off the bed. I glanced up and the caught the eyes of a very concerned Doc Roe.

"Jesus, you scared the shit outta me, Gene. You came outta nowhere." I exclaimed, re-positioning myself next to him on the bed.

"Gracie, he didn't come out of nowhere. He was in the room the whole time, barely ten feet away from you." Luz pointed out, a smirk pulling up at his lips. I frowned.

"Well…whatever. He still startled me. Anyways, what's up, Gene?" I said, turning to the Cajun man. His brown eyes caught mine in an intense stare, and I had the urge to run out the door. He meant business.

"Gracie, what's been goin' on?" He asked, knowing very well I was trapped beneath his no-nonsense stare. I swallowed and looked to Liebgott for help, but he only shrugged and returned to shuffling a deck of cards. I mentally huffed. The man would save me from being sexually harassed, but not help me get rid of unwanted questions? Tsk.

"I uh, I don't quite know how to tell you. But it's all right now. Lieb and Bill helped me sort everything out, so you don't have to worry." I smiled widely, trying to reassure him. He didn't take the bait.

"I'm serious. You betta' tell me. Lemme check yoh body, I gotta make sho' yoh not hurt." His hands started to flit around me, pressing against my skin lightly before moving on to the next place in a great flurry. I pulled away from his probing hands after a moment of confusion, only for him to grab my wrists gently and pull me towards him.

"Eugene! I'm fine, I swear, I-"

"What is dis? Yoh hurt, Gracie. Who did dis?" His hand was lying on my stomach, fingers splayed out against the bruises and cuts Sobel had left on my hips. I grit my teeth and turned my head away when the rest of the boys crowded over.

"What the fuck is that? Guarnere, what exactly happened here? Who the fuck did that?" Malarkey exclaimed, turning sharply to face Bill who was lounging on his bed playing a game of cards with Liebgott. The dark-haired man frowned shortly before meeting my eyes.

"That's…not my business to say." He answered curtly before returning his attention to the cards in his hands. Malarkey turned his gaze to me, and I wanted to run away. Eugene's fingers ran over my hips and I flinched away.

"Gracie?" He asked softly.

"Just don't...freak out. Okay? No matter what. You've all got to keep this quiet." I said, finally turning to look at the four men around me. They nodded, grim looks on their faces. I sighed. "Sobel…Sobel did this."

"What? He…fuck. That fucking bastard, I'm gonna-"

"No, you're not gonna do anything. Stay here." I cut Luz off sharply, pulling away from Gene's hands to grab his arm before he could leave. He turned to look at me incredulously.

"Not gonna do anything? Not gonna do anything my ass!" He exclaimed, exchanging a look with the rest of the guys. I could tell they were all already plotting to kill the Captain.

"Just, please. Don't. I don't want to cause any more complications. Nobody can know. It's just like I said before, I'll be sent home, and I need to stay. You guys have to promise me to keep quiet and not do anything, okay?" I pleaded, trying my best to convince the outraged men. A few moments of tense silence passed as the men gazed around at each other, trying to come to a decision.

"Fine. But if he even comes fucking _near_ you, I'm kicking his ass." Luz muttered, running a hand over his face. I deflated and sank back on my bed in relief.

"Thank you." I said, offering the men a smile. Eugene stood up to get something from his bag, and then squatted by my side. I cast him a curious sideways glance.

"Lemme clean up da cuts." He said, pulling out alcohol, bandages, and cotton balls from a small aid kit. I heaved a sigh, but lifted my shirt up and allowed him to dab at my hips with the cotton balls. I winced at the sting and turned my attention to Talbert, who was watching us silently.

"What's up, Tab?" I asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Are you okay?" He automatically shot out, concern etched out in his eyes. I could tell he was upset, and I felt a pang of sadness.

"I'm fine. I really am. Even if Lieb and Bill hadn't come along, I would've been fine. I can defend myself…he just caught me by surprise is all…" I finished lamely, knowing that probably wouldn't make the worried man feel any better. Eugene pulled me up and wrapped a bandage around my lower waist before either Tab or I could say anything more. My eyebrows shot up.

"Um, Gene, do I really need a bandage wrapped around me for a couple of bruises and cuts?" I questioned. He simply nodded and pulled my shirt down after he had finished with the bandage. Tab and I exchanged a look before I burst out in laughter.

"You're too much." I said in between breaths. Tab chuckled and sat beside me, slapping me on the back when I started to cough.

"Aye, what the fuck's going on in here?" Toye exclaimed as he burst into the barracks with the rest of the men. I wiped away the tears that had gathered in my eyes and slumped against Tab.

"He killed me." I said, pointing over at Eugene who had returned to his own cot. The silent man turned a glare to me, upset over having attention drawn to him. I smirked. That's what he gets for drawing attention to me.

"You don't look dead to me." Perconte observed, shuffling over to poke at my body. I laughed and slapped his hands away.

"All right, so maybe I'm alive. But he still killed me for like, a whole 30 seconds." I pouted. Popeye passed by Eugene and shook his head in mock disappointment.

"And here I thought you were supposed to be saving lives." He said as he peeled off his boots. Eugene stayed silent and shot me another look. I smiled innocently.

"So where were ya guys?" I asked, directing my question towards Lipton.

"At the bar. But we had to leave because Toye, Skinny, and Tipper were getting too rowdy." The redhead sent the three men a stern look and I held back a laugh.

"Guess they'll never learn, huh?" I joked, pulling away from Tab and laying down on my bed. Lipton simply shook his head with a grin and sat on his bed to take off his boots. Tab gave me a worried look and I winked.

"Don't worry so much, I'm just tired. Long day." I said quietly, nudging him off of my bed with my leg. He stood up and ruffled my hair.

"All right. I'm only three beds over if you need me." He said with a smile. I rolled my eyes and slapped his hand away.

"Don't get too eager waiting for me." I warned, sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed and walked away before I could smack him again.

"Aye, playing cards without me? What is this?" I heard Toye say. I leaned up on my elbows to see him standing over Lieb and Gaurnere.

"Awh, stop your whining and sit down." Bill said, taking the cards from Liebgott and beginning to shuffle. He glanced over at me and my heart skipped.

"You wanna join Gracie?" He asked, a huge grin on his face. _He's such a charmer, oh no._

"Yeah, come on over! I haven't seen ya all day, and I miss holding you in my arms." Toye called, sending me a sly wink. I leaned down to pick up my boot and threw it at him. He caught it just in time with a laugh. "Playing hard to get only turns me on more. You should know that, honey."

"Oh, shut up, Toye. You're so full of it." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"All jokes aside, come on over. I really do miss ya!" He said, smiling innocently. I crossed my arms.

"No way in hell. I suck at cards, anyways." I pointed out. I don't know what was wrong with me, but the concept of playing any kind of card game completely passed over my head. I didn't have the gift.

"Awh, no ya don't. I'll help ya out. Come on!" He urged, giving me a pleading look. Bill shook his head with a grin and started to hand out the cards.

"No." I simply said, pulling my blankets over my head.

Joe surprisingly didn't say anything back, and I sighed in relief. Before I could make myself more comfortable under the covers, two arms wrapped around me and hauled both me and the blanket off of the bed. I let out a scream and kicked my legs, but it was to no avail.

"Get off of me! Let me down! What the hell!" I exclaimed, struggling to get out from underneath the blanket.

I was unceremoniously dumped onto another bed and I began to flail around, trying to get the blanket off of me. Laughter erupted around me as I finally managed to fling the blanket off of me. Above me, Joe was smiling in victory. I lunged at him and tackled him to the bed we were on; causing the cards Gaurnere had shuffled to fly everywhere.

"Awh, Gracie, come on!" He complained, watching as Joe and I rolled around. Suddenly, the both of us hit the floor and I let out a yelp when Joe landed on top of me. Somebody pulled him off and I sat up with a groan.

"What the fuck, Toye!" I growled, hair sticking out everywhere. He backed up slowly, hiding behind Bill.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, a grin still plastered on his face.

I shook my head and stood up to examine the mess we had created. Cards were everywhere, my blanket was somewhere across the room, and Bill was currently being used as a human shield.

"Oh, whatever. I'm too tired for this crap." I muttered, walking to grab my blanket before returning to my bed.

"So…no cards?" Toye asked slowly, peeking from behind Bill's shoulder. I settled myself in the bed before sending him a glare. "All right, all right, fine. Good night, Gracie."

"Yeah, good night captain asshole." I said sarcastically before burrowing underneath my blankets again.

"Good night, Gracie." I heard Bill say. My heart sped up and a blush rose to my cheeks. My eyes widened and I let out a sigh. Just great. Just fucking great.

"Good night, Gonorrhea." I called. I closed my eyes tightly and curled up in a ball. Maybe tomorrow these feelings would go away. Maybe tomorrow, everything would be okay again.

* * *

**A/N: **Here's another one guys. Hope you all have a lovely memorial day. I'm in the midst of a band of brothers marathon woop woop. Also I'm going to apologize for the incredibly random POV change in the story, I just wanted to get a glimpse of how the guys feel about her but looking back, I'm legit just like, "what was i thinking" O_O I am such a lazy and awful writer omg dsigjsdlgkffff It's just that I have over 100 pages of this fic and I'm too scared to make changes to it because I might mess it up more than it already is and ahhhh i have no excuses *rolls away in utter shame* It's too late to go back now though, since a few people actually enjoy it and follow it and thanks guys, really T_T


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